Columbia  5BnitJem'tp 
intfteCitpoflfttigurk 

THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


EECOLLECTIONS 


0» 


ITINERANT    LIFE 


INCLUDING   EARLY  REMDTISCENCES. 


BY 

HEV.  GEOEaE  BROWN,  D.  D., 

OP   THE   METHODIST    PUOTESTANT   CHUUCH. 


NOT    THAT    WE    HAVE    DOMINION    OVEK    YOUR    FAITH,    BUT    ARE    HELPERS    OP    YODB    JOT: 

FOR  BY  FAITH  YE  STAND."— 2  Coritithians,  i:  24. 


SECOND   EDITION. 


CINCINNATI: 

R.   W.    CARROLL    &    CO.,    PUBLISHERS, 

No.  ilV  "^V^nsT   I  orRTH   Street. 
SPRINGFIELD:  METH.  PROT.  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 

1866. 


\' 


9  2 
/3f/ 


3 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congi-ess,  in  the  year  1806,  by 

Eev.  GEORGE  BROWN,  D.  D., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 

District  of  Ohio. 


,'^n7(L 


gTEnEOTVPF.n    AT   THE 
jTRXi^KJlAH    SVgg    BOUNDBK, 
CINCHt'AM'I,  0.' 


DEDICATION. 


TO    THE 


l^inistErs  anb  Pcmbcrs  of  llje  P^ttljobist  '^xottstnnt  €hvizc^, 

AND   THE   FraENDS   OF    CHRISTIAN    LIBERTY    IN    ALL    DENOMINATIONS. 

THIS   WORK,   ENTITLED   "RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT 

LIFE,  INCLUDING  EARLY  REMINISCENCES," 

IS  MOST  RESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED, 

BX 

The  Authob. 

Springfield,  Ohio,  February  5,  1866. 


INTHODUCTION, 

BY     REV.   JOHN     SCOTT,   D.D., 
Editor  Western  Methodist  Protestant. 


"Days  should  speak,  and  multitude  of  years  should  teach 
wisdom."  The  experience  of  the  past,  when  duly  considered, 
is  well  calculated  to  cast  light  on  the  present  and  direct  us  in 
the  future.  Abstract  principles  are  intangible,  and  it  is  only 
when  they  receive  a  practical  exemplification  that  their  nature 
and  importance  are  clearly  demonstrated.  While  we  look  to 
the  future  as  a  theater  of  action,  we  must  look  to  the  past 
for  an  illustration  of  the  power  and  influence  of  those  princi- 
ples which  direct  and  control  action.  These  principles  may 
be  considered  in  the  light  of  our  own  experience,  and  also  as 
illustrated  in  the  experience  of  others ;  and  the  more  extensive 
and  varied  the  experience,  the  more  complete  and  important  is 
the  illustration  it  affords.  It  is  this  that  gives  value  to  his- 
tory, and  particularly  to  biography,  which  is  the  history  of 
individual  life  and  character.  This  species  of  history  is  valu- 
able in  proportion  as  it  presents  correctly  and  fully  the  princi- 
ples and  motives  which,  under  certain  circumstances,  influenced 
and  controlled  individual  action.  But  while  the  biographer 
may  be  able  to  trace  clearly  the  actions  of  an  individual,  he 
is  often  unable  to  determine  with  certainty  the  motives  by 
which  those  actions  were  prompted;  and  actions,  considered 
without  reference  to  the  motives  from  which  they  spring,  may 
very  easily  produce  an  entire  misapprehension  of  an  individual's 
character.     In  autobiography,  however,  this  difl&culty  does  not 

(V) 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

exist.  The  motive  and  the  action  are  alike  known  to  the 
author,  and  both  may  be  clearly  presented  in  their  mutual  re- 
lation to  each  other.  This  enables  us  to  form  a  correct  theory 
of  an  individual's  life  and  character,  and  to  derive  instruction 
from  his  example.  The  present  volume  is  of  the  latter  class, 
and  we  shall  detain  the  reader  but  a  short  time  from  its  perusal 
by  a  brief  notice  of  the  Author  and  his  Work. 

Doctor  Brown,  the  recollections  of  whose  itinerant  life  are 
contained  in  this  volume,  belongs  to  a  past  generation,  and 
lingers  among  us  for  a  short  time  as  a  worthy  representative 
of  a  noble  class  of  men  whose  memories  will  be  ever  green, 
and  the  recollection  of  whose  Christian  virtues  and  faithful 
labors  shall  be  imperishable  in  the  Church.  As  a  man,  he  is 
eminent  for  his  strength  of  intellect,  his  great  social  power, 
his  earnestness  of  purpose,  and  his  unswerving  adherence  to 
principle.  Quick  in  perception  and  clear  in  judgment,  he 
readily  grasps  whatever  subject  he  investigates.  Although 
possessing  a  strong  relish  for  abstract  metaphysical  questions, 
he  has  the  peculiar  talent  of  presenting,  in  a  clear  and  simple 
form,  the  results  of  his  most  profound  investigations.  His 
social  qualities  are  also  of  a  high  order.  With  a  heart  over- 
flowing with  kindness,  and  a  memory  well  stored  with  inter- 
esting and  varied  reminiscences  of  the  past,  his  social  inter- 
course possesses  a  peculiar  charm,  rendering  his  society  both 
attractive  and  instructive.  In  the  performance  of  the  labors 
of  life,  he  has  always  manifested  great  earnestness  of  purpose. 
Impressed  with  the  true  nature  of  his  duties,  he  has  bent  all 
his  energies  faithfully  to  discharge  them.  Regarding  life  as  a 
reality,  he  has  never  trifled  with  his  life-work,  but,  with  the 
earnestness  produced  by  an  abiding  conviction  of  its  impor- 
tance, has  devoted  himself  with  energy  to  its  performance. 
Integrity  and  adherence  to  principle  have  always  been  promi- 
nent traits  in  his  character,  and,  sooner  than  renounce  these, 
he  has  manifested  a  willingness,  in  the  privations  and  sacrifices 
of  personal  comfort  which  he  has  endured,  to  sacrifice  every 
thing  else.  Rather  than  abandon  his  convictions  for  the  sake 
of  prominence  and  place,  he  has  often  exposed  himself  to  op- 


INTRODUCTION.  VU 

position  and  reproach.  Preeminently  a  man  of  peace,  sooner 
than  renounce  his  principles,  he  has  engaged  in  discussions, 
which,  for  a  time  at  least,  resulted  in  the  alienation  and  sac- 
rifice of  cherished  friends.  Principle  and  duty  with  him, 
throughout  life,  have  always  been  paramount  to  every  other 
consideration. — His  strength  of  intellect,  his  warmth  of  sym- 
pathy, his  earnestness  of  purpose,  and  his  integrity  of  prin- 
ciple, united  with  ardent  piety,  constitute  a  character,  partially 
exhibited  in  the  present  volume,  alike  worthy  of  our  study  and 
imitation. 

Eminence  in  any  department  of  life,  whatever  a  man's  nat- 
ural abilities  and  moral  excellencies  may  be,  depends,  to  a 
great  extent,  upon  his  own  industry  and  application.  These 
are  necessary  to  develop  and  strengthen  his  powers,  discipline 
his  thoughts,  and  enable  him  to  use  with  facility  the  knowl- 
edge he  acquires.  Doctor  Brown  has  been  a  life-long  student, 
patient  and  diligent  in  the  acquirement  of  knowledge.  Preem- 
inently a  student  of  the  Bible,  he  has  not  been  indifferent  to 
other  branches  of  learning,  but  has  acquired  an  extensive 
knowledge  of  books,  and  is  familiar,  especially,  with  the  older 
authors,  in  almost  every  department  of  philosophical  thought. 
Not  satisfied  with  superficial  inquiries,  his  investigations  have 
been  deep  and  thorough,  enabling  him  to  master  the  subjects 
which  have  engaged  his  attention.  Although  now  in  the  seventy- 
fifth  year  of  his  age,  his  former  habits  of  study  have  not  been 
abandoned,  but  most  of  his  time  is  devoted  to  his  books,  and 
he  still  delights  in  the  investigation  of  the  most  profound  sub 
jects  connected  with  Christian  theology.  In  this  he  presents, 
especially  to  young  men  in  the  ministry,  an  example  every  way 
worthy  of  imitation. 

With  such  natural  endowments,  and  such  habits  of  studious 
application,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Doctor  Brown  should 
occupy  a  prominent  position  as  a  Christian  minister.  As  a 
preacher,  in  his  day  he  had  not  many  equals,  and  few  if  any 
superiors.  Deeply  skilled  in  the  word  of  God,  he  brought  out 
of  his  treasury  things  "both  new  and  old."  Although  always 
chaste,  he  preferred  strength  to  beauty  of  style,  and  sought  to 


Viii  INTRODUCTION. 

enlighten  the  judgment  and  arouse  the  conscience  rather  than 
please  the  fancy.  Clear  in  exposition,  forcible  in  argument, 
apt  in  illustration,  and  powerful  in  appeal,  his  preaching  wa3 
often  accompanied  by  a  divine  energy  to  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  We  have  seen  vast  assemblies  spell- bound  by  his 
thrilling  utterances,  or  swaying,  like  the  forest  in  the  breeze, 
beneath  the  power  of  truth  as  it  fell,  with  burning  fervor,  from 
his  lips.  In  the  days  of  his  prime,  he  towered  in  the  pulpit 
like  a  giant  in  his  strength,  and  wielded  the  sword  of  the  Spirit 
with  a  dexterity  and  power  seldom  surpassed.  Hundreds  are 
now  living,  many  of  whom  are  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  who 
were  converted  through  his  instrumentality,  and  thousands  no 
doubt  have  gone  to  their  final  rest  who  were  saved  through 
his  faithful  labors,  and  who  will  "shine  as  stars  in  the  crown 
of  his  rejoicing  forever." 

As  an  executive,  whether  as  the  Superintendent  of  a  circuit 
or  the  President  of  a  conference  or  a  college,  Doctor  Brown  was 
always  gentle,  but  firm.  Possessing  a  kind  and  merciful  spirit, 
he  sought  to  reclaim  the  erring  by  Christian  counsel,  admoni- 
tion, and  reproof;  and  not  until  he  had  exhausted,  without  suc- 
cess, every  effort  in  the  spirit  of  kindness  and  love  to  reclaim 
them  was  he  willing  to  resort  to  the  exercise  of  discipline 
and  punish  the  guilty.  But  when  all  other  means  failed,  and 
it  became  necessary,  he  shrunk  not  from  the  performance  of 
his  duty,  but,  with  a  firm  and  impartial  hand,  administered 
justice  to  the  transgressor.  Under  such  circumstances  punish- 
ment was  rendered  doubly  severe,  because  it  was  felt  to  be  not 
the  result  of  personal  enmity,  but  of  necessity;  for  no  man  ever 
felt  that  in  Doctor  Brown  he  had  an  enemy. 

Like  all  noble  and  generous  minds,  he  always  sympathized 
with  the  weak  and  oppressed.  Although  often  straightened  in 
his  own  circumstances,  he  never  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  voice 
of  the  needy,  but  often,  beyond  his  ability,  contributed  to  the 
supply  of  their  wants.  His  benevolent  heart,  in  its  yearnings 
of  sympathy,  went  out  after  the  poor,  whom  the  Saviour  declares 
we  shall  always  have  with  us. 

His  sun  is  now  fast  declining,  and  will  soon  set  in  beauty. 


DTTRODUCTION.  IX 

His  graces,  like  the  ripened  fruit  trembling  on  tlie  bough  ready 
to  be  gathered,  have  attained  a  mellow  richness,  giving  to  his 
character  more  than  an  earthly  charm.  Cheerful  and  happy, 
with  resignation  and  hope  he  waits  the  coming  of  the  Master 
to  call  him  to  his  reward. 

The  present  volume,  containing  the  recollections  of  such  a 
man,  dating  back  to  the  commencement  of  this  century,  and 
coming  down  to  the  present  time,  connected,  as  they  are,  with 
great  social  and  religious  changes  and  important  ecclesiastical 
refoi'ms,  in  which  the  Author  bore  a  prominent  part,  can  not 
fail,  we  think,  to  interest  and  instruct  the  reader.  Many  thrill- 
ing incidents  connected  with  pioneer  life  and  early  itinerant 
labor  are  here  recorded.  Human  nature  is  presented  in  many 
of  its  phases,  and  numerous  anecdotes  illustrative  of  peculiar 
manners  and  traits  of  individual  character  are  related.  The 
important  principles  of 'Mutual  Rights  and  Ecclesiastical  Liberty, 
which  the  author  has  labored  so  zealously  for  years  to  promote, 
are  with  propriety  considered,  and  the  causes  which  led  to 
the  organization  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  of 
which  he  was  one  of  the  founders,  and  with  which  he  has  been 
so  long  identified,  are  presented,  and  the  reasons  justifying  such 
an  organization  are  clearly  set  forth.  The  volume  will  also  be 
found  to  contain  much  that  is  calculated  to  edify  the  Church, 
and  especially  to  instruct  her  young  and  rising  ministry. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  truth  of  history,  and  also  to  vindi- 
cate his  own  character,  the  Author,  in  a  few  instances,  has  been 
under  the  necessity  of  presenting  others  in  an  unenviable  light; 
but  having  stated  the  facts  and  vindicated  himself,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  Christian  charity,  he  becomes  their  apologist,  and  in- 
stead of  referring  their  conduct  to  moral  obliquity  of  purpose, 
ascribes  it  rather  to  the  weakness  of  human  nature. 

The  volume,  as  its  title  imports,  is  composed  principally  of 
recollections,  aided  in  part  by  written  and  printed  documents. 
It  may  appear  singular  to  some  how  the  Author,  after  the  lapse 
of  so  many  years,  could  relate  with  such  precision  so  many  im- 
portant incidents,  giving  names,  dates,  and  localities,  and  even 
the  particulars  of  numerous  conversations.     This  serves  to  ex- 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

hibit  some  of  the  peculiar  traits  of  his  character.  Endowed 
with  a  memory  of  uncommon  tenacity,  which,  like  all  his  other 
mental  faculties,  retains  its  vigor  unimpaired,  he  has  treasured 
up  all  the  important  facts  and  incidents  of  his  life,  and  has  the 
ability  to  call  them  forth  at  pleasure.  This  faculty  has  been 
cultivated  and  strengthened  by  the  habit,  in  which  he  has  in- 
dulged for  many  years,  of  enlivening  the  hours  of  social  inter- 
course with  intimate  friends  by  the  relation  of  important  facts 
connected  with  his  former  history.  By  this  means  they  have 
not  been  permitted  to  fade  from  his  memory,  but,  according  to 
a  law  of  our  mental  constitution,  by  frequent  repetitions  have 
been  indelibly  impressed  upon  his  mind.  During  the  last  thirty 
years,  it  has  been  our  privilege  to  hear  him  relate,  at  different 
times,  most  of  the  facts  and  incidents  contained  in  this  volume. 
It  is  a  source  of  real  satisfaction  to  his  numerous  friends,  that 
these  recollections  are  now  given  to  the  public  in  such  a  form 
that  all  may  enjoy  the  pleasure  which  has  heretofore  been  re- 
stricted to  a  few,  and  possess  a  valuable  memento  of  one  on 
whom  the  Church  has  bestowed  its  highest  honors. 

We  shall  not  further  detain  the  reader  from  the  perusal  of 
the  work  itself,  which  we  know  can  not  fail  to  amuse  and  in- 
struct him.  Rich  in  facts,  abounding  in  wise  counsels,  and  en- 
livened by  incidents  of  special  interest,  it  requires  only  to  be 
read  to  be  appreciated. 

Springfield,  0.,  January  31,  1866. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

FAOB 

Writing  from  Memory  and  Recollection — Diary  Lost — Why  I  have 
Written— Place  of  Birth— The  Mad-Dog  and  Cow — Whisky  In- 
surrection— Narrow  Escape  from  Drowning — Crossing  the  Ohio 
River  at  the  Tail  of  an  Ox— The  Brown  Family— From  1797  to  1800 
go  to  School — The  Site  of  SteubenviJle — Western  Civilization — 
Fighting — Rev.   R.  Dobbins 17 

CHAPTER    II. 

Removal  to  Ohio,  then  a  Territory — Captain  John  Henlick  and  his  Two 
■Wives — The  Game  and  the  Snakes — DifQculties  Connected  with  Bor- 
der Life — Methodist  Preachers  make  their  Appearance — The  Wolf- 
hunt — A  Large  Farm  Cleared  Out  in  Five  Years — Border  Settlers 
make  their  own  Clothing  from  the  Raw  Material — No  Schools  for 
Ten  Years — Early  Religious  Impressions— Cowardice  in  Religious 
Matters — Evil  Efiects  of  Wicked  Associations 24 

CHAPTER    III. 

Learn  the  Fulling  Trade — Trip  to  Canton — Go  to  School  in  Virginia — 
Death  of  My  Father  by  Drowning — Commence  Teaching  School — 
Enter  the  Army  in  1812 — The  Wild  Horse — Johnson's  Island — Gen- 
eral Harrison — Winchester's  Defeat — Volunteer  to  help  away  the 
Wounded — The  Retreat — Camp  Inundated — Fort  Meigs — Honorably 
Discharged — Start  for  Home — Difficulties  of  Travel — Failure  of  Pro- 
visions— My  Religious  Condition 43 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Trip  to  Baltimore— Had  to  Decide  Between  my  Two  Brothers— The 
Camp-Meeting  and  the  Giants  of  Methodism — My  Conversion  and 
Happiness— Robert  Fisher— The  Prayer-Meeting  and  the  Cross — 
Joined  the  Church— Gilbert  Middleton,  Class- Leader— His  Faithful- 
ness— Members  of  his  Class— The  Class  of  Young  Men  who  held 
Prayer- Meetings — Commenced  Preaching  white  on  Probation — My 

(xi) 


XU  CONTENTS. 

PAoa 

Studies — The  Baltimore  Local  Preachers — An  Effort  to  Repair  an 
Injury  to  my  Brother — Studies  Continued  in  my  Brother's  Tan- 
Yard — A  Soldier  Again,  in  Defense  of  Baltimore  against  the  Brit- 
ish— A  Soldier  Condemned  to  be  Shot — Eeflections  on  that  Thrilling 
Scene — First  Love-Feast  I  attended  in  Baltimore — Licensed  to 
Preach  in  1814 59 

CHAPTER    V, 

My  first  Itinerant  Sermon — The  Negroes  Sleeping  in  Meeting — My  De- 
sign in  going  on  Anne  Arundel  Circuit — Jackson's  Victory — Peace 
Restored — The  General  Joy — Not  being  Recommended  to  Confer- 
ence, I  Return  to  Work  and  Study — Was  Immediately  Called  to 
Prince  George's  Circuit — The  Horse — The  Money — My  Colleagues — 
The  Circuit — The  Bilious  Fever  and  its  Cause — Kind  Friends  who 
Cared  for  me  in  my  AfSictions — Chambersburg  Circuit — My  Col- 
leagues— My  Presiding  Elder — Carlisle  Circuit — My  Colleague — 
Much  Opposition — Success  in  Gettysburg — The  Infidel  Converted — 
A  Marriage  Extraordinary — Stafford  Circuit — My  Assistant — The 
Various  Sects — The  Camp-Meeting — How  Methodists  at  that  day 
Regarded  Slavery 75 

CHAPTER    VI, 

"Washington  Station — DiflSculty  about  the  Choir — Revival  of  Religion — 
Study  of  Greek  and  Hebrew — Rev.  Matthew  Brown,  D.  D. — Wheel- 
ing and  Short  Creek — Noah  Zane — Methodism  and  Calvinism — Lay 
Delegation — Dr.  David  Stanton — Washington  Station  Again — My 
Marriage — Ohio  Circuit — Old  Bachelors — Insufficient  Support 95 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Conference  in  Baltimore — Appointed  Presiding  Elder  of  Monongahela 
District — Effort  to  Change  the  Manner  of  Appointing  Presiding 
Elders — Bishop  McKendree's  Vindication  of  his  Course  in  the  Pre- 
ceding General  Conference — Removal  to  Washington — My  First 
Quarterly  Conference — Trip  to  Ohio  with  Bishop  McKendree — The 
Bishop's  Views  on  Church  Polity — My  Views — Conference  in  Win- 
chester, Virginia — Conference  in  Baltimore — Formation  of  Pitts- 
burgh Conference — Failure  in  Health — Recovery — The  New  Lights 
— The  Baptists — Camp-Meetings — My  First  Public  Connection  with 
the  Reform  Movement — The  Mutual  Rights — Bishop  George 112 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

Conference  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania — Reform  Movement — Bishop 
Hedding's  Address  against  Reform — Reasons  for  Replying — D.  W. 


CONTENTS.  Xm 

PAOK 

Clark,  D.  D. — Friendly  Relations  Existing  between  Bishop  Hedding 
and  Myself — Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop — Convention 
of  Bishops  in  Baltimore — Bishop  Hedding's  Note  to  the  Chairman 
of  the  Editorial  Committee  Demanding  Timothy's  Real  Name — My 
Reply,  Surrendering  my  Name — Rev.  H.  B.  Bascom's  Testimony  as 
to  the  Truthfulness  of  Timothy's  Address — Similar  Testimony  from 
Rev.  John  Waterman,  Rev.  Asa  Shinn,  Thomas  Morgan,  Esq.,  Rev. 
Joshua  Monroe,  Rev.  T.  M.  Hudson — Reasons  for  Present  Self- 
Defense 129 

CHAPTER     IX. 

Letter  from  Bishop  George — His  Conciliatory  Efforts — Concessions  to 
the  Pittsburgh  Conference — Passage  of  my  Character — Private  In- 
terview between  Bishop  George,  H.  B.  Bascom,  A.  Shinn,  and  My- 
self— Letter  Published  in  the  Mutual  Rights,  signed  "  Plain  Deal- 
ing"— The  General  Conference  of  1828 — Mr.  Shinn's  Eloquent 
Speech  in  Favor  of  the  Restoration  of  D.  B.  Dorsey  and  W.  C.  Pool — 
Bishop  Hedding  and  Myself  before  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy — 
Decision  of  the  Committee — My  Defense 158 

CHAPTER    X, 

A  Church  Trial  in  Steubenville  in  1827 — A  Lady  Preacher — Conference 
in  Mercer  County — New  Lisbon  Circuit — Determination  to  leave  the 
Church — Reasons  for  so  Doing — Invitation  to  go  to  Pittsburgh — Ac- 
ceptance— Letter  to  my  Presiding  Elder 180 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Church  Property — Plan  to  Crush  Reform  in  Pittsburgh — Effort  to  Ob- 
tain Possession  of  Sraithfield  Street  Church — Decision  of  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania  in  favor  of  Reformers — Effort  to  bring  Fe- 
male Influence  to  bear  Against  Reform — First  Reform  Conference — 
Amusing  Objection  to  Moral  Character — Convention  in  Baltimore — 
True  Piety  of  Ministers  and  Members  of  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church — Contemptuous  Treatment  from  Old  Friends 203 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Church  Failures  in  "Wheeling — My  First  Year  in  the  Presidency — Re- 
elected President — The  Reform  Methodists — Discussion  on  Church 
Government-^A  Forgetful  Preacher — Lectures  on  Church  Govern- 
ment— Elected  President  the  Third  Time — First  General  Confer- 
ence— Presidential  Tour  through  the  West 228 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

PAOH 

Bemoval  to  Cincinnati — An  Opinion  on  Ecclesiastical  Law — Second 
Year  in  Cincinnati — General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church — Anecdote  of  Rev.  N.  Snethen  and  Rev.  W.  Burke — Elec- 
tion of  Bishop  Morris — Transfer  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference 255 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Transferred  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference — Removal  to  Alleghany — 
Remarkable  Dream — Lorenzo  Dow  and  General  Jackson — An  Arbi- 
trary Sexton — Second  General  Conference — Debate  on  Slavery — Lib- 
erty of  the  Press — Meeting  of  Pittsburgh  Conference — Removal  to 
HoUiday's  Cove,  Virginia 267 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Conference  in  New  Lisbon,  Ohio — Elected  President — Removal  to 
Steubenville — Conference  in  Pittsburgh — Appointed  to  Pittsburgh — 
The  Use  of  Tobacco — Conference  in  Alleghany — Reappointed  to 
Pittsburgh,  with  Rev.  J.  Cowl  as  Assistant — Annual  Conference  Ac- 
tion on  the  Slavery  Question 281 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Division  of  Pittsburgh  Conference — Elected  President — Exercise  of 
Church  Discipline — Removal  to  Steubenville — Tour  in  Western  Vir- 
ginia— Conference  in  Pittsburgh — Re-elected  President — Discussion 
on  Phrenology — Lumbermen  at  Goose  Creek — Adventures  in  the 
Mountains — Conference  at  Fairmont — Third  Year  in  the  Presidency.  291 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Appointed  Conference  Missionary — General  Conference  in  Cincinnati — 
A  Quarterly  Meeting  among  the  Colored  People — Pittsburgh  Con- 
ference held  in  Alleghany — Elected  President — Public  Discussions 
on  Church  Government  with  Methodist  Episcopal  Ministers — Con- 
ference at  Waynesburgh,  Pennsylvania — Re-elected  President — 
A  Sketch  of  Border  Life  in  Western  Virginia 316 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Removal  to  Connellsville,  Pennsylvania — A  Revival  of  Religion — 
Modes  of  Baptism — Camp-Meeting — General  Conference — Madison 
College— Family  Afflictions 338 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Conference  in  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania — Removal  to  Manchester  Cir- 
cuit, in  Virginia — Elected  President — Elected  President  of  the  Board 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAQB 

of  Trustees  of  Madison  College — Tour  through  West  Virginia — Re- 
elected President  of  Pittsburgh  Conference — Removal  to  Uniontown, 
Pennsylvania — Funeral  of  Rev.  Asa  Shinn — Resignation  of  the 
President  of  Madison  College — Elected  President  pro  tem.  of  Col- 
lege— Return  to  the  Labors  of  the  District 348 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Rev.  Francis  "Waters,  D.  D.,  President  of  Madison  College — His  Resig- 
nation— Rev.  S.  K.  Cox,  President — Pecuniary  Embarrassments  in 
College  Affairs — General  Conference  of  1854 — The  Eutering-wedge 
of  Church  Division — Cholera  during  the  Session  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Annual  Conference  in  Alleghany — Visit  as  Fraternal  Messenger  to 
the  Pittsburgh  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at 
Blairsville,  Pennsylvania — Serious  Trouble  at  the  College — Expul- 
sion of  a  Student — Reconsideration  of  the  Sentence  Urged — Threat 
of  the  Faculty  to  Resign  unless  Sustained  by  Board  of  Trustees — 
Faculty  Sustained — Visit  to  Cincinnati — Military  Discipline — Pro- 
phetic Opinion  on  Political  Matters  Expressed  by  Ex-Governor 
Branch,  of  North  Carolina — Secession  of  Faculty  and  Founding  of 
an  Institution  at  Lynchburg — Election  to -the  Presidency  of  Madi- 
son College 361 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

A  New  Faculty — Pecuniary  Condition  of  the  College — Traveling  on 
College  Business — Tour  through  Old  Virginia — Visit  to  Lynchburg — 
A  Southerner's  View  of  Slave-trading — College  Commencement — 
Change  in  the  Faculty — College  Closes 388 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

Delegates  Elected  by  Pittsburgh  Conference  to  the  Convention  at 
Springfield,  Ohio — Missionary  Work  and  Farming  Operations — 
Meeting  of  Committees  on  the  Union  of  the  Wesleyan  and  Methodist 
Protestant  Churches — Compilation  of  a  Hymn-book — Visit  of  Fra- 
ternal Messengers  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  the 
Pittsburgh  Conference — Visit  as  Fraternal  Messenger  to  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  Blairsville, 
Pennsylvania — Removal  to  Vicinity  of  McKeesport,  Pennsylvania — 
Elected  Editor  of  Western  Methodist  Protestant — Removal  to 
Springfield,  Ohio — Death  of  both  My  Sons — Views  and  Wishes  on 
Ecclesiastical  Matters , 399 

An  Address  to  the  Ministers  and  Members  op  the  Methodist  Peot- 
SSTANT  Church 415 


Iccijlltctwns  0f  Itinerant  Sfe. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Weitino  feom  Memory  and  Recollection— Diaet  Lost— Why  I  have  Written— Re- 
form Controversy- Place  of  Birth— The  Mab-Dug  and  Cow— Whisky  Insukeec- 
TiON— Narrow  Escape  from  Drowning— Crossing  the  Ohio  River  at  the  Tail  of 
AN  Ox— The  Brown  Family— From  1797  to  ISOO  go  to  School— The  Site  op  Steu- 
benville— Western  Civilization— Fighting— Rev.  R.  Dobbins. 

It  is  now  proposed  to  commit  to  writing  some  recollections 
of  past  life,  and  of  the  times  wliieh  God  hath  permitted,  or 
caused,  to  pass  over  me.  In  doing  this,  I  must  depend  mainly 
on  memory  and  recollection.  Memory  has  retained  many  things 
with  a  tenacious  grasp ;  others  come  up  to  view  by  mental  effort 
and  the  laws  of  association :  these  are  properly  recollections. 
The  events  which  have  so  far  faded  away  from  my  mind,  as  to  be 
beyond  all  my  efforts  to  fully  regain  by  recollection,  will  be  re- 
garded as  irrecoverably  gone ;  of  them  nothing  will  be  written. 
In  1848,  my  diary,  with  all  that  I  had  written,  including  many 
letters,  documents  on  the  Reform  Controversy,  and  some  ser- 
mons, was  entirely  lost  in  Steubeuville,  Ohio.  At  the  time  of 
a  removal,  when  I  was  from  home,  the  box  containing  them 
was,  by  mistake,  thrown  into  the  cellar,  and  there  they  lay  until 
the  exuding  glue  attached  all  my  papers  together  in  one  insepa- 
rable mass — all  were  lost.  After  that  I  wrote  but  little  more, 
being  discouraged  by  the  loss  I  had  sustained. 

Why  shall  I  not  write  what  I  remember  and  can  recollect  of 
past  life?  It  will  do  me  good  in  many  ways;  it  will  give  me 
employment  in  my  old  age,  and  thereby  promote  my  happiness. 
2  (25) 


26  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERANT    LITE. 

A  careful  and  honest  review  of  past  life,  I  am  confident,  will 
deeply  humble  my  soul,  under  a  sense  of  my  numerous  imper- 
fections and  short-comings  before  the  Lord.  At  the  same  time 
it  will  call  up  to  my  mind  and  heart  the  goodness  and  mercies 
of  God,  which  have  followed  me  all  the  days  of  my  life,  and 
tlyereby  increase  my  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good.  My 
children  claim  it  of  me  to  give  them  some  account  of  what  I 
have  been  doing  these  many  years  past.  Many  in  the  Church 
make  the  same  claim,  and  all  have  a  right  to  be  gratified. 

Having  stood  connected,  as  an  active  laborer,  with  the  con- 
troversy in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  resulted  in 
the  expulsion  of  many  of  the  leading  friends  of  reform,  the 
withdrawal  of  others,  and  the  ultimate  organization  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  I  shall  deem  it  my  duty,  as  I 
pass  along,  to  notice  and  correct  certain  historical  and  bio- 
graphical errors  into  which  some  writers  have  fallen,  who  were 
opposed  to  lay  delegation  in  those  days.  These  friends  of  min- 
isterial supremacy  have  nearly  all  passed  away ;  for  this  reason 
I  shall  strive  to  deal  in  all  possible  candor  with  their  charac- 
ters, opinions,  and  statements.  Yet  the  truth  will  have  to  be 
told,  on  the  living  and  on  the  dead;  and  when  this  is  done 
without  bitterness,  with  fairness  and  Christian  candor,  no  man 
on  earth  will  have  a  right  to  complain. 

If  right  had  taken  place,  I  should  have  been  born  in  Brooke 
County,  Virginia,  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio  River,  about  oppo- 
site the  middle  of  Brown's  Island.  But  all  the  border  settle- 
ments were  then  involved  in  the  horrors  of  Indian  warfare,  and 
our  family,  with  other  border  families,  had  fled  before  an  irrup- 
tion made  by  the  savages  on  the  frontier  settlements,  to  a  place 
of  safety,  just  over  the  line,  in  Washington  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  that  place  I  was  born,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1792. 
I  recollect  nothing  of  that  fort,  place  of  safety,  or  whatever  it 
was  called.  In  a  short  time  my  father  and  mother,  Hugh  and 
Ruth  Brown,  with  their  family,  returned  to  their  homes  on  the 
bank  of  the  river;  and  among  the  beauties  and  grandeurs  of 
nature  in  that  romantic  place  are  located  my  first  recollections 
of  things  in  this  transitory  life.  Behind  our  log-cabin  home 
rose  the  wood-covered  and  far-stretching  hills,  overlooking  our 


THE    MAD-DOa    AND    COW.  27 

humble  habitation.  In  front  of  us  ran  the  beautiful  Oliio,  on 
wbose  shores  I  delighted  to  play;  and  a  little  further  in  front 
the  eye  rested  on  Brown's  Island,  three  miles  long,  covered 
with  heavy  timber,  mostly  sugar-trees.  In  the  river  there  was 
fish,  and  in  the  forest  game  in  abundance.  A  part  of  the  island 
was  cleared  and  under  cultivation.  My  father  and  my  uncle, 
Colonel  Richard  Brown,  raised  their  bread  there ;  and  on  that 
island,  and  about  our  rural  home  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
memory  still  loves  to  cling.  Many  things  in  that  place  made 
too  deep  an  impression  on  my  mind  ever  to  be  forgotten.  I 
will  name  a  few  of  them. 

Memory  goes  back  still  with  abiding  gratitude  to  God,  for 
preserving  me,  when  quite  a  child,  from  destruction  by  a  mad- 
dog.  My  father  and  brothers  rose  early  one  morning,  let  the 
cow  into  the  yard  to  the  calf,  and  then  went  to  the  island  to 
work.  I  was  out,  looking  at  the  calf,  when  a  mad-dog,  re- 
sembling in  size  and  color  our  own  trusty  dog,  sprang  past  me 
and  seized  the  cow.  She  fought  furiously  for  her  calf.  I  was 
either  knocked  down  in  the  fight,  or  fell  down,  and  the  cow 
stood  right  over  me,  as  though  she  fought  for  me  as  well  as 
her  calf.  My  mother  came  running,  with  a  long  pole,  to  beat 
oif  the  dog  and  get  me  away,  but  failed,  until  our  dog  came 
running  from  the  hill  and  seized  the  mad-dog.  The  cow,  being 
relieved,  left  her  position  over  me,  and  my  mother  took  me  into 
the  house,  all  covered  with  slaver  from  the  cow  or  the  dog, 
perhaps  from  both;  and  my  back  showed  many  a  scratch  from 
the  nails  of  the  dog.  Immediately,  my  brothers,  and  all  the 
young  men  of  the  neighborhood,  were  out  with  their  guns,  in 
pursuit  of  the  rabid  animal,  but  did  not  find  him.  But  toward 
noon  he  returned;  my  father  and  my  uncle,  each  with  a  hand- 
spike, standing  one  on  each  side  of  the  road  along  which  he 
came,  smote  him  down  and  killed  him.  He  had  destroyed 
much  property;  our  cow,  calf,  and  dog  all  went  mad,  and  had 
to  be  killed.  I  remember  well  seeing  my  brother  Arthur  shoot 
our  cow;  she  fell  on  the  slope  of  the  bank,  and  rolled  over  and 
over  into  the  river,  which  was  then  very  high,  and  away  she 
went.  In  this  dreadful  hazard  of  life,  how  mercifully  did  God 
preserve  me  ]     At  that  time  I  was  about  two  years  and  a  half 


28  RECOLLECTIONS    OF  ITINERANT    LIFE. 

old;  but,  young  as  I  was,  tlie  hazard  of  my  lifa  by  the  mad- 
dog  made  too  deep  an  impression  upon  my  mind  ever  to  be 
forgotten. 

I  remember,  too,  the  closing  up  of  the  Whisky  Insurrec- 
tion in  Western  Pennsylvania.  One  day  an  insurgent,  by  the 
name  of  Sutherland,  came  running  through  our  yard,  with  all 
his  might,  and  to  the  river  he  went,  stole  our  canoe,  and  started 
down  stream  to  avoid  his  pursuers.  A  short  time  afterward, 
while  I  wks  at  play  in  the  yard,  a  man  rode  up  in  military 
garb,  hitched  his  horse  at  the  gate,  and,  as  he  entered  the 
yard,  my  mother  screamed  out,  and  running  to  him,  threw  her 
arms  around  his  neck  and  kissed  him.  I  felt  scared,  and  won- 
dered what  big  ugly  man  that  was  kissing  my  mother.  It 
turned  out  to  be  my  brother  Edward,  from  Maryland,  who  had 
remained  behind  when  my  parents  moved  to  the  West,  and 
whom  I  had  never  seen  before.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Whisky 
Boy  expedition  to  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  had  now  come 
to  pay  us  a  visit,  before  his  return  home  to  Maryland. 

When  about  five  years  of  age,  I  came  very  near  being 
drowned  in  the  Ohio  River.  I  was  a  venturesome  boy.  I 
went  to  the  river  alone,  got  into  the  canoe,  and  went  to  the 
stern,  which  lay  square  oif  from  the  shore,  over  deep  water, 
which  at  that  time  was  both  clear  and  still.  I  got  up  near 
the  stern,  with  one  foot  on  each  side,  and  commenced  rocking 
the  craft,  to  see  the  waves  roll,  as  I  had  seen  others  do.  For 
some  time  I  got  on  with  my  fun  pretty  well,  but  a  slip  of  one 
foot  threw  me  into  the  river,  and  I  went  to  the  bottom.'  That 
moment  I  realized  my  perilous  condition,  and,  opening  my  eyes, 
I  found  I  could  see  the  shadow  of  the  canoe  on  the  bottom ; 
so,  instantly,  on  hands  and  feet,  along  the  black  mark,  with  all 
my  might  I  made  for  the  shore.  When  I  had  to  take  breath, 
I  rose  to  my  feet,  and  found  that  my  head  was  out  of  the  water. 
This  narrow  escape  never  was  known  to  my  parents,  who  often 
warned  me  about  the  dangers  of  the  river. 

When  about  six  years  of  age,  being  on  the  island  one  very 
warm  day  in  the  month  of  June,  toward  the  middle  of  the  aft- 
ernoon I  felt  a  strong  desire  to  cross  the  river  and  go  home  to 
my  mother.     So,  I  went  down  to  the  canoe  and  waited  awhile; 


THE    BROWN    FAMILY.  29 

but  no  one  came  to  go  over,  nor  did  any  one  come  to  my  Uncle 
Kichard's  canoe.  After  awhile,  tlie  cattle  came  down  to  drink.  I 
had  often  seen  them  swim  across  that  stream ;  so  a  new  thought 
came  into  my  mind,  and  I  drove  them  into  the  river,  which  was 
full  from  bank  to  bank,  it  being  the  time  of  the  June  rise,  and, 
as  they  went  in,  I  took  old  Bright,  our  off-side  ox,  by  the  tail, 
and  he,  being  a  little  wild,  felt  somewhat  frightened,  went  in  with 
a  plunge,  and  over  we  went,  I  holding  on  to  the  tail.  When  we 
got  over  I  let  go  the  tail,  and  Bright  ran  up  the  bank ;  then, 
turning  round,  he  looked  at  me  and  blowed,  like  an  animal  terri- 
bly seared.  What  next  was  to  be  done  ?  To  go  home  all  wet 
would  not  do.  My  mother  would  find  out  how  I  had  crossed  the 
river,  and  deal  with  me  as  I  deserved,  for  my  adventurous  and 
rash  conduct.  To  escape  punishment,  and  meet  the  case  as  well 
as  I  could,  my  clothes  were  taken  off  and  wrung ;  then  hung  on 
the  fence  in  the  hot  afternoon  sun  to  dry.  Meantime  I,  being 
naked,  hid  in  the  bushes.  About  sundown  they  all  came  over, 
and,  as  they  came,  my  clothes  were  put  on,  and  I  waited  among 
the  bushes  until  all  had  gone  past,  then  followed  in  the  rear  to 
the  house,  no  one  appearing  to  notice  but  what  I  had  been 
with  them  all  the  time.  To  the  day  of  their  death  my  parents 
never  knew  any  thing  of  this  rash  adventure. 

I  will  here  give  some  account  of  the  Brown  family.  My 
grandfather,  George  Brown,  was  from  England.  He  was  about 
five  feet  and  one  inch  in  height,  strongly  built,  and  of  great 
strength.  My  grandmother  was  a  Stevenson.  They  settled  at 
Pipe  Ci'eek,  Maryland,  and  had  fourteen  children,  eight  sons 
and  six  daughters.  My  father,  Hugh  Brown,  was  the  young- 
est but  one  of  the  fourteen.  Nearly  all  of  them  raised  large 
families,  thus  connecting  me  with  an  extensive  relationship, 
now  vastly  multiplied  throughout  the  land.  My  mother  was  a 
Barney,  daughter  of  Absalom  Barney,  of  Maryland,  and,  I 
think,  her  progenitors  were  from  Wales.  On  both  sides  of  the 
house,  all  the  Church  proclivities  of  my  ancestors  were  toward 
the  English  Establishment.  But  when  the  Revolutionary  War 
sundered  the  American  Colonies  from  the  mother  country, 
Church  of  England  attachments  gave  way,  and  my  relations 
are  now  found  among  all  Christian  denominations  in  our  coun- 


30  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

try,  the  largest  portion  being  among  the  Methodists.  The 
Browns,  Stevensons,  and  Barneys  entered  largely  into  the  Rev- 
olutionary struggle;  but  among  them  all,  Joshua  Barney,  first 
cousin  to  my  mother,  then  quite  young,  was  most  distinguished. 
He  was  afterward  known  in  history  as  Commodore  Barney, 
and  fought  bravely  in  the  war  of  1812.  My  father  and  mother 
belonged  to  the  first  class  of  Methodists  ever  formed  in  the 
state  of  Maryland.  It  was  organized  by  Robert  Strowbridge,  an 
Irish  local  preacher.  And  when  they  came  to  the  West,  about 
1789,  they,  so  soon  as  practicable,  connected  themselves  with  the 
Methodists,  then  few  in  number,  and  both  remained  in  that  com- 
munion until  God  called  them  from  labor  to  reward  in  heaven. 

My  parents  had  ten  children,  eight  sons  and  two  daughters, 
nine  of  whom  they  raised.  The  tenth  one  perished  in  the 
flames,  when  my  father's  house  was  burned,  just  before  the  fam- 
ily came  to  the  West.  My  father  had  sold  his  land  and  other 
property;  the  money  was  all  in  the  house,  and  was  all  destroyed. 
Worst  of  all,  my  brother  Barney,  five  years  old,  was  burned 
with  the  house,  while  my  parents  were  paying  a  visit  among 
the  neighbors,  before  their  removal.  So,  then,  they  came  to 
the  West  very  poor,  which,  upon  the  whole,  may  have  been 
for  the  best,  as  it  led  the  whole  family  to  laborious  diligence 
and  economy  to  make  a  living;  all  of  which  is  friendly  to  re- 
ligion.    Idleness  and  wealth  generally  corrupt  the  heart. 

From  1797  to  1800  I  went  to  school,  and,  it  was  said,  made 
good  progress  in  such  branches  as  were  taught;  but,  in  com- 
parison with  the  present  day,  schools  were  then  less  than  nothing 
and  vanity.  About  the  year  1796,  my  mother  took  me  over 
the  river,  and,  in  my  bare  feet,  I  ran  all  over  the  ground  where 
Steubenville  now  stands,  mostly  then  in  heavy  timber,  a  little 
only  being  cleared  near  the  fort,  which  stood,  according  to  my 
recollection,  about  where  Dr.  Beatty's  female  seminary  now 
stands.  I  heard  the  first  sermon  ever  preached  in  Steuben- 
ville; it  was  called  the  Christening  Sermon,  and  was  delivered 
by  Dr.  Joseph  Doddridge,  in  the  old  log  court-house,  up 
stairs.  We  went  up  rough  stairs  on  the  outside  to  the  place 
where  the  meeting  was  held.  At  that  time  there  were  but 
three  or  four  houses  in  the  town,  besides  the  aforesaid  court- 


REV.   ROBERT    DOBBINS.  31 

house.  In  those  days,  there  was  not  much  done  in  court- 
houses. The  border  settlers  decided  controversies,  in  many 
instances,  as  in  all  new  countries,  by  a  trial  of  manhood.  He 
who  could  "lick"  his  neighbor  with  whom  he  had  a  dispute, 
generally  carried  his  cause.  Civilization  and  religion  have 
measurably  changed  all  this.  Blessed  be  God  for  civilization 
and  religion!  What  wonders  they  have  wrought!  They  can 
yet  do  more,  if  human  passion  will  allow  them.  But  in  that 
half-civilized  state  there  was  a  great  deal  of  fighting.  Men 
fought  fur  mere  trifles;  so  did  boys;  and  in  many  companies 
could  be  heard  more  talk  about  fighting,  and  who  was  the 
stoutest  man  in  that  community,  and  what  boy,  in  a  short 
time,  would  be  able  to  "lick"  all  the  boys  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, than  could  be  heard  about  the  crops,  the  government  of 
the  country,  or  the  Christian  religion.  Still  there  were  thought- 
ful men  and  women,  who  read  the  Scriptures,  prayed  to  God, 
attended  Divine  worship  whenever  practicable,  and  strove  to 
bring  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord.  Among  these  were  my  beloved  pai-ents,  Hugh  and  Buth 
Brown,  whose  memory  has  always  been  dear  to  me.  Thou- 
sands of  times  have  I  reproached  myself  for  slighting  their 
counsel  in  the  days  of  my  youth.  They  would  have  led  me  to 
Christ,  but  from  Christ  I  ran  away.     Such  is  youthful  folly! 

In  my  boyhood  it  was  considered  a  great  matter  to  be  a  good 
swimmer.  I  could  swim  the  Ohio  Biver  equal  to  any  Indian, 
before  I  was  eight  years  of  age.  This  was  great  sport;  so 
were  shooting,  hunting,  fishing,  and  all  kinds  of  athletic  exer- 
cises, by  which  the  human  constitution  is  invigorated. 

While  we  yet  lived  at  the  river,  in  Virginia,  Bev.  Bobert 
Dobbins  established  preaching  at  the  house  of  my  uncle.  Col- 
onel Bichard  Brown.  He  was  called  the  great  Methodist 
preacher.  The  border  settlers  generally  turned  out  to  hear 
him.  Much  religious  interest  was  waked  up,  and  he  certainly 
would  have  done  good,  had  he  continued  his  labors.  After  a 
long  and  useful  career  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  then  in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  he  died,  a  few 
years  ago,  in  great  peace,  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Conference  of 
the  latter  denomination. 


32  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERAIs'T    LIFE. 


CHAPTER   II.   - 

REMOVAt  TO  Ohio,  then  a  Territory— Captain  John  Henltck  and  his  Two  Wives— 
The  Game  and  the  Snakes— Difficulties  Connected  with  Border  Life— Meth- 
odist Preachers  make  their  Appearance  — The  Wolf-hunt  —  A  Large  Farm 
Cleared  Out  in  Five  Tears— Border  Settlers  make  their  own  Clothinq  from 
THE  Raw  Material— Xo  Schools  for  Ten  Years— Early  Religious  Impressions- 
Cowardice  IN  Religious  Matters— Evil  Effects  of  Wicked  Associations. 

In  1800,  my  father,  with  his  family,  moved  to  Ohio,  then  a 
territory,  and  built  his  cabin  on  a  branch  of  Cross  Creek  called 
Cedar-Lick  Run,  in  Jefferson  County,  on  Congress  land,  intending 
to  enter  it  when  the  land  was  surveyed  and  brought  into  market. 
But  here  there  was  a  failure,  for  another  man  came  in  before 
him,  entered  the  land,  and  got  all  the  improvements  made  in 
two  or  three  years.  It  may  be  we  lost  nothing  by  it,  as  my 
father  bought  better  land  higher  up  Cross  Creek,  where  we 
again  settled  in  the  woods,  opened  out  a  large  farm,  and  lived 
in  the  midst  of  plenty — at  least  at  that  time  we  thought  so. 
But  the  plenty  of  that  day  would  not  do  the  people  now. 

In  my  boyhood  I  had  an  instinctive  horror  of  Indians.  Their 
barbarities  to  the  whites,  as  related  by  every  body,  had  been 
very  great.  To  utter  the  word  Indian  would  always  frighten 
children ;  and  it  so  happened  that  our  first  cabin  was  included 
in  their  hunting-grounds.  Our  cabin  had  but  one  door;  oppo- 
site to  this  was  a  window,  and  then  another  window  near  the 
fireplace.  One  day,  as  I  was  employed  under  the  window  op- 
posite the  door,  and  my  father  sat  mending  his  shoes  by  the 
other  window,  I  heard  a  footstep,  and  turned  to  look.  0,  hor- 
rible !  there  stood  within  the  door  a  very  large  Indian,  and  two 
squaws  just  behind  him  !  Every  nerve  in  me  quaked;  my  very 
blood  thrilled  at  the  sight.  He  had  his  rifle,  tomahawk,  and 
scalping-knife,  and  was  just  raising  his  hand,  and  opening  hia 
mouth  to  give  his  whoop  j  and  he  did  give  it,  in  about  the  fol- 


THE  GAME  AND  THE  SNAKES.  33 

lowing  style:  "Whoo!  Great  big  man  me,  Captain  John  Hen- 
lick!  have  two  wife!"  and  turned  his  hand  back  as  if  he  meant 
to  introduce  them.  My  father  rose  up;  knowing  we  had  peace 
with  these  red  children  of  the  forest,  he  came  forward  and 
kindly  shook  each  of  them  by  the  hand;  my  mother  coming  in, 
did  the  same.  Seeing  all  this,  my  fears  were  measurably  re- 
moved, but  in  me,  after  all,  there  was  an  instinctive  dread.  I 
had  heard  too  much  about  savage  cruelties  to  believe  we  were 
altogether  safe  with  Indians  in  our  cabin.  They  asked  for 
"milk  and  bread,"  and  my  mother  supplied  their  wants.  After 
eating,  the  big  Indian  rose  up  and  said,  "Now  me  got  enough- 
how  far  down  to  Make-whisky?"  —  meaning  a  distillery,  an 
abominable  sink  of  vice,  away  down  Cross  Creek,  where,  as  he 
said,  "Indian  could  make  drunk  come."  Even  savage  barbarity 
has  been  made  more  savage  and  furious  by  these  distilleries, 
that  "make  drunk  come."  I  then  began  to  see  Indians  so  fre- 
quently that  my  fears  wore  away.  Often  did  they  lodge  in  our 
cabin  of  nights,  occupying  the  whole  floor.  Their  little  boys  be- 
came my  playmates,  and  very  interesting  little  fellows  they  were. 
We  used  to  swim,  and  fish,  and  play  ball,  and  run  races  to- 
gether; and  I  really  came  at  last  to  love  those  little  boys  of 
the  woods,  notwithstanding  their  fathers  had  been  our  terrible 
enemies. 

There  was  game  all  around  us :  deer,  bear,  turkeys,  wolves, 
wild-cats,  and  panthers,  often  coming  in  sight  of  our  cabin,  and 
once  in  awhile  an  elk  might  be  seen,  with  his  high,  branching 
horns.  I  heard  an  estimate  made  by  John  Hammond,  an  hon- 
est Quaker,  and  a  capital  hunter,  that,  taking  our  cabin  for  a 
center,  within  a  circle  of  six  miles  around  us,  six  hundred  deer 
had  been  killed  in  one  hunting  season,  including  autumn  and 
winter.  As  for  snakes  of  all  kinds,  they  were  met  with  every- 
where. In  those  days  my  two  brothers,  Nicodemus  and  Rich- 
ard, helped  my  father  in  his  farming  operations;  I  was  the 
herdsman,  and,  morning  and  evening,  brought  home  the  cattle 
from  the  woods.  Often  did  I,  in  my  excursions  over  the  hills 
and  along  the  valleys,  come  in  contact  with  snakes,  and  to  be 
ready  for  them  I  always  carried  a  club.  One  morning,  in  the 
month  of  October,  on  a  limestone  knob,  where  they  had  come 


34  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

out  from  under  tlie  shelving  rocks  to  sun  themselves,  I  killed 
thirteen  large  rattlesnakes  at  one  time.  At  another  time  I 
found  a  den  of  them  of  several  sorts — blacksnakes,  rattlesnakes, 
and  copperheads — and  killed  nineteen.  Many  other  encounters 
had  I,  in  my  boyhood,  with  snakes.  Once  I  was  bitten  by  a 
copperhead,  a  mean,  sly,  venomous  serpent,  and  it  nearly  cost 
me  my  life.  Never,  since  that  time,  have  I  owed  any  good- 
will to  copperheads — especially  just  now,  (August  14,  18G3,) 
as  a  copperhead  is  made  the  symbol  of  a  Northern  sympathizer 
with  the  great  slaveholding  rebellion  in  the  South,  as  full  of 
the  horrible  poison  of  treason  to  our  beloved  country  as  the 
old  serpent,  the  devil,  was  to  the  government  of  God. .  All  the 
copperheads.  North  and  South,  must  be  put  down;  both  the 
symbol  and  the  meaner  thing  symbolized  must  be  forever 
crushed. 

While  I  was  suffering  almost  unto  death  from  the  bite  of  the 
copperhead  above  referred  to,  the  neighbors  came  in  to  see  me. 
Every  one  had  his  cure,  and  every  cure  was  tried,  but  nothing 
did  me  any  good;  the  thing  run  its  course,  spent  its  rage,  and 
ultimately  health  returned.  During  my  illness  I  thought  much 
upon  the  Indian's  cure — namely,  to  apply  the  lips  immediately 
after  the  bite,  and  suck  out  the  poison  before  it  went  into  the 
circulation.  But  to  this  I  had  some  objections:  the  poison 
might  get  into  defective  teeth,  or  some  of  it  find  its  way  into 
the  stomach.  It  occurred  to  me  that  to  squeeze  it  out  with 
the  thumbs  and  fingers  would  be  equally  effectual,  and  more 
safe;  so  I  resolved  to  try  this  method  of  cure,  if  I  ever  had  a 
chance.  A  few  years  afterward,  in  a  harvest-field,  where  there 
were  eight  reapers,  I,  being  a  half-hand,  was  behind ;  AVilliam 
Gutshall,  a  German,  was  next  before  me ;  and  as  we  went  on,  I 
saw  a  terrible  rattlesnake  bite  William  just  under  the  ankle- 
bone.  He  leaped,  screamed  like  a  panther,  and  jerked  the  snake 
after  him.  I  called  to  the  reapers  to  kill  it,  and  got  William 
instantly  to  throw  himself  on  his  back,  and  hold  up  his  foot  to 
me.  I  applied  my  thumbs  and  fingers  strongly  to  the  wound, 
and  forced  out  the  poison  mixed  with  blood,  green  and  hor- 
rible. It  was  then  one  hour  until  dinner;  we  all  waited  during 
that  hour  to  see  the  result.     The  swelling  was  not  larger  than 


REMEDY    FOR    SNAKE-BITES.  35 

would  have  been  made  by  the  sting  of  a  wasp.  We  then  went 
to  dinner,  and  William  came  out  with  us  in  the  afternoon,  and 
labored  on  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  This  gave  me  great 
confidence  in  this  new  remedy  for  snake-bites — a  remedy  which 
proud  science  never  thought  of,  but  which  I  know  to  be  of 
sovereign  efficacy. 

About  two  years  after  tliis,  my  brother  Richard  and  I  went 
into  the  woods  to  gather  service-berries,  which  were  at  that 
time  very  plenty.  A  small  tree,  richly  laden  with  fruit,  was  cut 
down ;  the  berries,  being  very  ripe,  were  all  shaken  off  by  the 
jar  of  the  fiill,  and  covered  the  ground.  While  Richard  was 
in  among  the  branches  and  weeds,  gathering  up  the  fruit,  a 
snake  bit  him  on  the  hand;  he  withdrew  it,  saying,  "What  is 
that?"  He  then  put  back  his  hand  to  about  the  same  place, 
and  was  bitten  again  :  that  time  we  both  saw  the  snake ;  it  was 
a  copperhead,  and  it  ran.  I  told  him  to  let  it  run,  we  had  no 
time  to  lose  in  killing  it,  and  to  hold  his  hand  to  me.  The 
wounds  were  within  an  inch  of  each  other,  on  the  back  of  his 
hand ;  and,  by  the  vigorous  application  of  my  thumbs  and 
fingers,  the  poison,  from  both  the  orifices,  was  forced  out, 
bloody  and  green,  and  did  him  no  harm ;  no  swelling  followed 
larger  than  would  have  been  made  by  the  sting  of  a  bee.  A 
short  time  after  this — I  think  the  same  summer — Richard  went 
to  the  stubble-field,  to  bring  in  the  horses  to  plow,  and  was 
bitten  by  a  rattlesnake,  a  very  large  one,  on  the  foot.  With- 
ou.t  waiting-  to  kill  the  snake,  he  instantly  applied  his  thumbs 
and  fingers  and  forced  out  the  poison ;  the  swelling  was  not 
much  more  than  perceptible,  and  did  not  hinder  him  from 
plowing  that  day.  Here,  I  think,  is  proof  positive  that  a  bite 
from  the  most  venomous  serpent  may  be  cured,  if  taken  in  time, 
by  a  proper  application  of  thumbs  and  fingers.  I  leave  this 
upon  record  for  the  benefit  of  all  who  may  come  after  me.  In- 
deed, I  published  it  many  years  ago,  and  now  jiublish  it  again 
in  a  more  permanent  form,  to  keep  it  from  being  forgotten  by 
my  fellow-citizens. 

In  this  new  country  of  snakes  and  game,  we,  at  that  early 
time,  labored  under  many  inconveniences  and  disadvantages. 
There  was  little  money  to  be  seen ;  neighbors  were  few  and  far 


36  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

between ;  no  schools  for  several  years ;  it  was  a  considesable  dis- 
tance to  a  blacksmith-shop,  a  store,  or  a  mill ;  each  made  his 
own  shoes ;  the  women  spun  the  yarn,  wove  the  cloth,  linen  or 
linsey,  and  made  all  the  clothing  worn  by  their  families.  But, 
in  addition  to  the  game  in  the  woods,  we  had  plenty  of  meat 
of  home  growth,  stock  in  abundance,  and  the  earth  yielded 
enough  and  to  spare,  for  man  and  beast.  Among  the  many 
mercies  of  God  was  this :  the  Gospel  was  preached  to  the  poor. 
The  Methodist  preachers  kept  pace  with  the  new  settlements. 
Within  two  miles  of  us,  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Bolin,  Rev. 
John  Cullison,  the  first  regular  circuit  preacher  I  ever  saw, 
held  forth  the  Word  of  Life  to  the  people  every  four  weeks. 
He  was  a  good  man,  a  plain,  scriptural  preacher,  full  of  faith 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  wherever  he  went  there  was  a  revival 
of  religion ;  many  were  added  to  the  Church  through  his  in- 
strumentality. People  went  then  a  great  distance  to  hear  the 
Gospel,  meet  in  class,  and  attend  prayer-meetings.  To  the  Bolin 
class  my  father  and  mother  attached  themselves ;  and  with 
them,  my  two  brothers  and  I,  with  my  sister  Mary,  three  years 
younger  than  myself,  in  early  life,  generally  went  to  hear  the 
Gospel  every  four  weeks.  It  was  a  week-day  appointment,  yet 
crowds  attended.  At  last  an  excellent  young  preacher,  by  the 
name  of  John  Meek,  came  to  help  Mr.  Cullison ;  then  we  had 
preaching  every  two  weeks,  and  the  whole  country  seemed  to 
be  moved  by  the  power  of  the  Lord.  About  this  time,  too,  the 
Baptists  and  Presbyterians  commenced  operations  among  the 
new  settlers,  and  both  denominations  assailed  the  Methodists 
on  points  of  doctrine.  The  Methodists  allowed  of  sprinkling, 
pouring,  or  immersion,  in  baptism.  The  Baptists  held  to  im- 
mersion alone,  and  were  close  communionists.  The  Methodists 
taught  the  doctrine  of  general  redemption,  holiness  of  heart 
and  life,  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  etc.,  and  that  there  was  a 
possibility  of  falling  from  grace.  Here  both  Baptists  and  Pres- 
byterians met  them  in  conflict,  and  the  struggle  between  the 
parties  was  long  and  arduous.  Thus,  in  the  days  of  my  boy- 
hood, was  I  made  to  see  and  understand  the  bitterness  of  heated 
controversy  on  the  subject  of  religion.  Yet,  after  all,  good  was 
the   result,   for   the  whole  community  went   to  searching  the 


THE    WOLF-IIUNT.  37 

Scriptures  daily,  to  see  wlio  was  right.  From  parental  teacliiog 
aud  reading  the  Bible,  I  deemed  the  Methodists  to  be  right, 
and  had  my  controversial  sword  whetted  up,  and  ready  for  a 
passage  at  arms  with  any  boy  of  my  age  in  the  neighborhood. 
From  that  day  to  this,  I  have  always  been  fond  of  doctrinal 
discussions. 

When  we  had  moved  to  our  new  home,  higher  up  Cross 
Creek,  in  1804 — I  being  about  twelve  years  of  age — new  set- 
tlers having  come  in,  I  began  to  have  other  playmates  besides 
Indian  boys.  One  day  in  the  month  of  May,  while  my  parents 
were  absent  at  meeting,  there  came  a  boy,  John  Adrian  by 
name,  to  pay  me  a  visit.  We  were  of  the  same  age;  but  he 
was  rather  under  my  size.  He  was  just  out  from  Maryland, 
and,  knowing  nothing  of  backwoods  life,  was  rather  fearful  of 
snakes,  wolves,  bears,  panthers,  and  Indians.  I  told  him  I  had 
heard  the  old  hunters  say,  that  where  the  wolves  howled  in 
the  morning,  between  daylight  aud  sunrise,  in  the  month  of 
May,  there  they  had  their  young;  and  that  for  some  time  past, 
every  morning,  about  due  east  from  our  house,  I  had  heard 
them  howling.  We  talked  the  matter  over  until  we  became 
excited — a  wolf-hunt  we  must  have.  Not  having  the  fear  of 
God  before  our  eyes,  Sunday  as  it  was,  we  took  the  gun  and 
dog,  in  the  evening,  and  away  we  went,  about  two  miles,  and 
camped  out  on  the  top  of  the  Piney  Fork  Ridge;  thus  choos- 
ing an  elevated  position,  that  we  might  hear  what  was  going  on 
all  around  us.  That  night  we  slept  but  little,  fearing  snakes 
rather  than  wolves,  though  of  wolves  we  had  some  fears,  as  we 
supposed  ourselves  to  be  near  the  den.  Our  lodging  was  in  an 
old  hunters'  camp,  covered  with  bark.  At  the  peep  of  day  we 
were  up  and  on  the  alert,  moving  down  the  south  side  of  a 
deep  ravine.  No  wolves  yet  had  howled.  In  about  ten  min- 
utes from  the  time  we  started  from  our  camp,  we  saw  the  old 
she-wolf,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ravine,  start  from  the 
mouth  of  her  den  in  full  chase  after  our  dog.  He  came  run- 
ning to  tis  with  all  his  might,  terribly  scared,  with  the  hair  on 
his  back  all  turned  the  other  way.  The  wolf  saw  us,  and 
passed  clear  round  us  like  a  streak.  I  found  it  impossible  to 
ehoot  with  any  hope  of  hitting  her,  in  her  flight,  so   my  fire 


38  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

■was  reserved.  In  a  few  moments  she  and  lier  mate  came  to- 
gether, just  over  the  ridge  beyond  the  deu,  and  set  up  a  terri- 
ble howling.  Immediately,  John  and  I  cros-sed  the  ravine,  and 
up  we  went  to  the  mouth  of  the  den,  and  could  hear  the  young 
cubs  playing.  If  we  had  possessed  the  skill  of  experienced 
hunters,  we  would  have  stopped  the  den,  retired  behind  a  blind, 
and  shot  one  or  both  of  the  old  wolves  when  they  came;  but 
we  never  thought  of  this.  Our  plan  was  immediately  laid  to 
take  the  cubs.  John  was  stationed  at  the  mouth  of  the  den, 
with  an  emphatic  charge  to  fight  hard  if  the  wolves  came;  to 
shoot  one  and  kill  the  other  M'ith  the  butt  of  the  gun — not 
doubting  but  that  he  could  do  it.  After  listening  a  moment 
at  the  howling,  just  over  the  hill,  in  I  went,  about  twelve 
feet,  and  there  were  the  cubs,  playing  about.  The  den  was 
about  eight  feet  in  diameter,  and,  as  to  height,  there  was  room 
enough  to  admit  of  my  standing  on  my  knees.  It  was  bedded 
with  leaves  and  moss,  and,  for  wolves,  it  must  have  been  quite 
comfortable.  I  took  two  of  the  cubs  by  the  hind  legs  and 
backed  myself  out.  I  gave  a  hind  leg  of  each  cub  to  John,  in 
his  left  hand,  and  told  him  to  hold  the  gun  in  his  right,  and 
urged  him  to  defend  me  manfully  if  the  old  wolves  came. 
Then  I  went  in  again,  and  brought  out  two  more,  and  gave 
John  a  hind  leg  of  each  in  his  right  hand.  So,  squatting 
down  on  his  "hunkers,"  he  took  the  gun  between  his  knees, 
and  gave  some  signs  of  fear,  as  the  old  wolves  over  the  ridge 
were  howling  furiously.  I  noticed  his  fears,  and  renewed  my 
charge  to  be  brave,  and,  if  they  did  come,  to  let  them  all  go, 
and  fight  like  a  hero,  and  not  let  them  into  the  den  after  me. 
I  then  went  in  again,  and  brought  out  two  more;  so  then  he 
had  to  take  three  hind  legs  of  cubs  in  each  hand,  six  in  all. 
Again  I  renewed  my  charge  to  John,  and,  for  the  last  time, 
crawled  in,  searched  the  den  thoroughly,  and  finding  no  more 
young  wolves,  came  out,  and  away  we  went  in  triumph,  leav- 
ing the  old  wolves  howling.  We  were  at  home  by  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  with  our  six  cvibs.  We  took  them 
alive  to  'Squire  Leech,  before  whom  I  made  oath  that  the 
wolves  were  captured  in  Wayne  Township,  Jefi'erson  County, 
Ohio,  and  got  from  him  an   order  for  the  township  bounty; 


CLEARING    OUT    A    FARM.  39 

likewise  an  order  on  tlie  county  treasurer  for  the  state  bounty; 
then,  cutting  off  the  heads  of  the  cubs  in  the  presence  of  the 
'Squire,  we  went  home.  The  next  day  we  went  to  Steuben- 
ville,  and  from  the  county  treasurer  drew  the  state  bounty. 
Neither  John  nor  I  ever  had  so  much  money  before.  John 
Ward,  the  county  treasurer,  said  that,  for  two  such  boys,  our 
wolf-hunt  was  an  exploit  indeed,  rather  ahead  of  General  Put- 
nam's. So,  hearing  all  this  from  him  and  others,  we  began  to 
think  we  had  doue  something  a  little  above  par,  and  that,  after 
awhile,  we  might  be  of  some  consequence  among  mankind.  Our 
vanity  set  us  to  stepping  largely  along  the  streets  of  Steu- 
benville.  Any  one  interested,  by  searching  the  record,  might 
find  that  in  May,  1804,  John  Ward,  Treasurer,  paid  George 
Browu  a  certain  sum  of  money  (amount  now  forgotten)  for 
six  wolf-scalps;  and  there  are  persons  now  living  in  Jefferson 
County,  Ohio,  who  know  all  about  the  success  of  our  wolf-hunt, 
and  the  noise  it  made. 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  my  father,  a  very  strict  Meth- 
odist, did  not  bring  me  to  a  rigorous  account  for  a  breach  of 
the  Sabbath,  in  this  wolf-hunt.  As  every  body  spoke  favora- 
bly of  the  adventure — of  its  daring  and  success- — may  be  the 
old  gentleman  thought  it  best  not  to  throw  a  cloud  over  the 
general  joy  by  giving  me  the  chastisement  I  deserved. 

In  our  new  home  we  were  again  in  the  woods;  had  our 
cabin  to  erect,  land  to  clear  and  cultivate,  and  our  bread  to 
raise.  I  was  still  the  herdsman,  and,  morning  and  evening, 
from  the  woods,  had  to  bring  home  the  cattle.  Here,  too,  as 
at  the  other  place,  we  were  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  grandeurs 
of  nature,  and  there  were  snakes  and  game  in  abundance.  My 
father  was  a  man  of  very  industrious  habits;  my  brothers  and 
myself  were  brought  up  to  hard  labor.  Here  I  began  to  be  a 
working  boy.  We  all  worked.  In  about  five  years  we  cleared, 
fenced,  and  brought  under  cultivation,  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  acres  of  wild  land.  So  we  began  to  live  at  home,  in  the 
midst  of  what  were  then  called  the  necessaries  of  life.  But, 
as  before  intimated,  the  necessaries  of  life  then  were  different 
from  the  necessaries  of  life  now.  I  was  full  fifteen  years  old 
before  I  ever  saw  a  carpet.     We,  and  all  our  neighbors,  went 


40  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

up  into  the  second  stories  of  our  cabins  by  step-ladders.  We  all 
grew  our  own  flax  and  wool.  The  women  had  spinning-wheels 
and  looms.  They  spun  and  wove,  and  made  nearly  all  the 
clothing  worn  by  the  families  in  those  early  times;  and,  of  all 
such  things  as  we  could  make  ourselves,  we  had  an  abundance. 
Once  in  awhile,  at  meetings  and  other  public  gatherings,  we 
saw  people  in  better  clothing  than  our  own,  made  of  goods 
bought  at  the  stores  then  being  established  here  and  there  in 
the  country.  Then,  again,  we  saw  the  Indians,  then  beginning 
ito  recede  from  our  vicinity,  and  many  of  the  whites  around  us, 
in  much  worse  garb  than  our  own.  So,  if  our  clothing  was 
not  the  best,  it  was  not  the  worst.  We  made  it  ourselves,  and 
were  not  in  debt  for  it,  and  to  wear  it  we  were  not  ashamed,  in 
the  best  society  then  to  be  found. 

At  that  time  it  was  with  us  as  with  all  new  and  sparsely 
populated  settlements;  we  had  no  schools  for  about  ten  years, 
in  our  neighborhood,  after  we  moved  to  Ohio.  A  school,  in- 
deed, was  started,  to  which  I  went  three  days;  then  the  house 
was  burned,  and  there  the  matter  ended,  to  the  great  grief  of 
the  neighborhood.  My  sorrow  was  great,  as  I  then  saw  no 
chance  for  an  education.  I  had  been  three  years  to  school  be- 
fore I  left  Virginia,  and  had  done  what  I  could  to  retain  the 
rudiments  of  an  education  then  laid  in,  and  to  improve,  in 
every  way  in  my  power,  the  little  stock  of  learning  I  had 
gained.  Now  the  school-house  was  burned,  and  the  neighbors 
divided  about  a  site  for  a  new  one — each  man  wanted  it  near 
his  habitation.  So  nothing  was  done,  and  I  was  greatly  dis- 
couraged; yet  the  matter  was  not  by  any  means  given  up.  I 
had  a  confidence  that,  somehow  or  other,  I  would,  at  least,  get 
a  good  business  education. 

In  early  life,  conviction  for  sin  often  took  a  powerful  hold 
of  my  mind.  My  father's  house  was  a  house  of  prayer,  and 
there  the  Gospel  was  occasionally  preached.  It  was  a  place  of 
resort  for  religious  people.  Besides,  with  my  father  and 
mother,  I,  with  my  brothers  and  sisters,  generally  attended 
the  stated  preaching  in  the  neighborhood.  So,  here  I  was  con- 
stantly within  the  reach  of  religious  truth,  surrounded  at  all 
times  by  Christian  influences  j  and,  in  my  heart,  often  felt  my- 


EARLY   RELIGIOUS   IMPRESSIONS.  41 

self  to  be  a  lost  sinner.  From  a  very  early  age,  "  I  knew  my 
duty,  but  I  did  it  not."  Bold  in  sin,  indeed,  I  was;  but  on 
the  subject  of  my  soul's  eternal  salvation  I  was  a  coward. 
All  my  religious  impressions  and  convictions  were  carefully 
kept  to  myself;  neither  father  nor  mother,  nor  any  friend  I 
had  upon  earth,  knew  any  thing  about  them.  And,  it  may  be 
added,  that  it  was  my  settled  determination,  if  the  Lord,  in 
mercy,  converted  my  soul,  to  keep  that  a  secret  too.  With 
such  views  and  feelings,  I  prayed  for  mercy  night  and  day,  in 
secret  places,  mostly  in  the  barn  and  in  the  woods,  often  tempted 
by  the  devil  to  give  the  matter  over ;  and,  if  I  did  not,  he 
would  appear  and  claim  me  as  his  lawful  prey.  But,  with  all 
his  threats,  however  terrifying,  the  devil  never  did  succeed  in 
driving  me  from  the  mercy-seat  in  time  of  secret  prayer.  My 
faith  was  weak  ;  my  views  and  determinations  were  wrong  in 
relation  to  secrecy  in  matters  of  religion.  The  Lord  did  not 
intend  to  light  a  candle  in  my  soul  to  be  put  under  a  bushel. 
So  I  spent  my  strength  for  naught,  became  more  and  more 
wretched  in  my  soul,  until  I  nearly  reached  the  borders  of  de- 
spair. At  last,  becoming  completely  discouraged,  I  gave  over 
the  struggle,  and  plunged  more  deeply  than  ever  into  sin. 
Often,  between  my  twelfth  and  sixteenth  years,  was  my  soul 
deeply  awakened  to  a  sense  of  my  sins ;  often  did  the  pains  of 
hell  well-nigh  get  hold  upon  me ;  then,  day  and  night,  as  be- 
fore, I  resorted  to  secret  prayer,  keeping  all  my  sorrows  to  my- 
self, determining,  if  the  Lord  did  bless  me  with  the  knowledge 
of  salvation  by  the  remission  of  my  sins,  I  would  keep  that 
also  a  secret ;  and  I  always  failed,  because  my  ignorant,  proud 
heart  was  not  willing  to  come  out  openly  and  above-board  on 
the  Lord's  side.  I  wanted  a  secret  religion,  and  wanted  to 
keep  it  a  secret  from  all  my  young  associates,  most  of  whom 
were  very  wicked ;  but  the  Lord  did  not  intend  to  have  it  so. 
He  meant  to  bring  me  out  openly  before  the  world.  The  truth 
is,  it  is  a  great  calamity  on  any  youth  to  have  wicked  asso- 
ciates, who  sneer  at  religion.  Such  associates  kept  me  back  from 
Christ  for  several  years.  My  cowardly  heart  was  bound  by 
their  influence,  as  by  a  fetter  of  iron,  which  I  had  no  power  to 
break.  Gospel  sermons,  parental  instruction,  example,  and  pray- 
3   ^ 


42  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE, 

ers,  all  seemed  unavailing  and  powerless  over  me  for  good, 
while  in  the  midst  of  wicked  associates ;  and,  alas  for  me !  I 
had  no  others,  and  from  them,  at  that  time  of  life,  I  had  not 
the  moral  courage  to  break  away.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  re- 
straining grace  of  God,  my  ruin  for  time  and  eternity  would 
have  been  complete. 


LEARN  THE  FULLING  TRADE.  43 


CHAPTER   III. 

Learn  the  Fulling  Trade— Trip  to  Canton— Go  to  School  in  Virginia— Death  of  mt 
Father  by  Drowning— Commence  Teaching  School— Enter  the  Army  in  1812— The 
Wild  Horse— Johnson's  Island— General  Harrison— Winchester's  Defeat— Vol- 
unteer to  help  away  the  Wounded— The  Retreat— Camp  Inundated— Fort 
Meigs— Honorably  Discharged— Start  for  Home— Difficulties  of  Travel— Fail- 
ure OF  Provisions- My  Religious  Condition. 

Near  the  close  of  my  fifteentti  year,  by  the  advice  of  my 
parents,  I  undertook  to  learn  the  fulling  trade  with  Robert 
Smith.  Before  being  bound  as  an  apprentice,  it  was  deemed 
advisable  by  the  parties  concerned,  that  I  should  be  considered 
on  trial  for  nine  months,  to  see  how  I  would  like  the  business 
and  the  man  to  whom  I  was  to  be  bound,  and  how  he  would  like 
me.  This  happened  to  be  a  good  arrangement,  for,  at  the  end 
of  that  time,  we  mutually  agreed  to  part.  Finding  myself  put 
to  running  a  saw-mill,  to  farming,  to  being  a  general  lackey 
for  the  family,  and  every  thing  else  that  I  did  not  go  there  to 
learn,  I  became  uneasy,  and  indicated  my  dissatisfaction,  be- 
cause I  had  but  little  chance  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  my 
trade;  whereupon  I  was  told  I  had  the  usual  chance  given  to 
boys,  and,  if  I  did  not  like  the  course  of  treatment,  I  might  go 
home.  I  did  not  exactly  like  this,  for  I  greatly  desired  to 
learn  the  trade.  Withal,  I  had  no  objections  to  Smith  or  his 
family;  but  I  could  not  consent  to  be  employed  in  time  to 
come  as  I  had  been  up  to  that  date,  so  I  declined  being 
Smith's  indented  apprentice,  and  went  home  to  work  on  the 
farm.  Here  were  nine  months  of  my  life  as  good  as  thrown 
away,  for  I  had  learned  but  little  of  Smith,  save  to  make  full- 
er's soap — a  capital   thing,  by  the  by;   but  I  have  long  since 


44  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

forgotten  how  to  do  it.  This  I  have  often  regretted,  as  there 
can  be  neither  civilization  nor  religion  without  soap. 

When  the  fall  work  was  pretty  well  done  up  on  the  farm  at 
home,  feeling  desirous  of  making  a  little  money  for  myself,  I 
went  to  Canton,  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  then  quite  a  new  place, 
about  sixty  miles  off,  and,  for  about  three  months,  made  good 
wages  at  hard  work — cutting,  splitting,  and  hauling  wood  into 
town.  Returning  home  about  the  last  of  January,  1809,  in 
fine  health,  I  felt  pretty  well,  indeed,  at  being  able  to  clothe 
myself  with  the  proceeds  of  my  own  labor,  and  to  extend  a 
little  help  to  the  family.  When  I  left  home  on  this  youthful 
enterprise,  my  mother  gave  me  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  and  a 
little  provision  in  my  sack,  and  away  I  went  on  foot.  When 
night  came  on,  I  slept  in  a  barn,  warm  enough,  in  the  soft 
hay.  The  second  day,  in  the  afternoon,  I  reached  Canton;  had 
my  quarter  of  a  dollar  yet;  got  employment  immediately;  and 
the  next  morning,  on  my  way  to  the  woods,  I  found  a  new  half- 
dollar  in  the  road.  This  I  took  as  a  good  indication,  and  felt 
quite  encouraged  by  the  occui-rence;  nor  did  1  spend  one  cent, 
while  I  remained  in  Canton,  in  any  useless  way.  Now,  indeed, 
I  was  free  from  the  influence  of  wicked  associates,  nor  had  I 
any  good  ones.  There  were  at  that  time  no  meetings  in  the 
place;  no  Christians  that  I  could  hear  of.  I  kept  no  com- 
pany, either  good  or  evil,  further  than  business  required.  Yet 
experience  taught  me  that  I  could  be  a  sinner  without  sinners 
to  entice  me,  and,  I  suppose,  even  without  a  devil  to  tempt 
me,  for  in  my  poor  fallen  nature  there  was  a  constant  gravita- 
tion to  the  wrong,  a  proneness  to  forget  God,  and  live  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  my  own  carnal  heart.  Nothing  now 
engrossed  my  attention  like  the  making  of  money.  Even  a 
beardless  boy,  as  well  as  an  old  miser,  can  be  carried  away  by 
the  love  of  money.  Still,  I  scorned  to  make  it  in  any  dishon- 
est way. 

In  the  spring  of  1809,  a  most  crushing  injury  received  on 
my  head,  breast,  and  back,  cut  me  loose  from  all  further  labor 
on  the  farm,  and  toward  winter,  having  somewhat  recovered,  I 
•wont  from  home  to  school   in  Western  Virerinia.     It   was  the 


DEATH  OF  MY  FATHER  BY  DROWNING.        45 

overturning,  on  a  hillside,  of  a  sled,  upon  which,  was  a  large 
log  of  rail  timber,  that  inflicted  the  injury,  and  from  it  I  have 
suffered  between  the  shoulders,  more  or  less,  to  the  present 
day.  In  Holliday's  Cove,  Brooke  County,  Virginia,  I  found 
comfortable  boarding  with  my  cousin,  Richard  Brown,  Esq., 
a  real,  practical  philosopher,  and  a  man  of  great  benevolence 
of  heart,  who  took  pleasure  in  rendering  me  all  the  assistance 
in  his  power,  in  the  prosecution  of  my  studies.  Hugh  Laird 
was  my  preceptor — a  man  of  extensive  attainments,  a  compe- 
tent and  successful  teacher;  but,  alas!  he  loved  liquor  too  well 
for  his  own  good  and  the  good  of  his  school.  However,  dur- 
ing the  two  years  I  was  with  him,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in 
me,  and  gave  me  a  pretty  fair  chance  for  what,  in  those  days, 
was  considered  a  good  business  education.  But  this  only 
waked  up  in  my  soul  a  desire  for  a  higher  education;  a  thor- 
ough course  in  college  was  what  I  wanted,  but  was  never  able 
to  obtain.  Like  all  others  who  have  had  to  be  self-taught,  I 
found  my  way  strewed  with  diiEculties  in  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge,  yet  I  have  done  what  I  could  in  a  course  of  men- 
tal improvement. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1811,  my  uncle.  Colonel  Richard 
Brown,  died.  He  was  a  real  Western  pioneer;  a  man  of  great 
physical  and  mental  energy,  universally  respected  for  his  use- 
fulness as  a  citizen,  and  for  his  genuine  benevolence  of  heart. 
That  same  year,  July  11,  I  lost  my  father.  He  was  drowned 
in  the  Ohio  River,  on  the  Ohio  side  of  Brown's  Island.  In 
the  time  of  harvest  vacation,  I  went  home  to  assist  in  harvest 
labor.  When  all  the  grain  was  in  the  shock,  word  came,  by  a 
swift  messenger,  that  my  Aunt  Honor,  the  widow  of  my  Uncle 
Richard,  was  sick,  and  supposed  to  be  near  unto  death.  Im- 
mediately my  father  and  I  went  to  see  her — he  on  horseback 
and  I  on  foot.  The  distance  was  fifteen  miles,  and  all  the 
way,  as  we  went,  my  excellent  father  was  most  engaging  in 
religious  conversation.  Neither  of  us  knew  that  that  was  his 
last  day  on  earth ;  but,  had  he  known  it,  he  could  not  have 
been  more  faithful  and  aff"ectionate  in  the  counsels  he  gave  me. 
When   we  came   to  the  river  it  was   very  low,   and  we  both 


46  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

crossed  it  on  the  same  liorse,  and  found  my  aunt,  as  was 
supposed,  quite  out  of  danger.  The  next  morning,  my  father, 
on  his  return  homeward,  was  seen,  by  myself  and  others,  to 
cross  from  the  Virginia  shore  to  the  island  in  safety.  But,  on 
the  Ohio  side  of  the  island,  instead  of  inclining  a  little  up 
stream,  to  the  out-coming  place,  he  kept  too  straight  over,  and 
got  into  very  deej)  water,  where  he  and  his  horse  were  both 
drowned,  for  neither  of  them  could  swim.  The  horse  was  found 
on  a  bar  near  the  lower  end  of  Brown's  Island,  but  my  father 
lodged  against  a  rock  on  the  Ohio  side,  about  one  mile  and  a 
half  above  Steubenville.  He  was  drowned  on  Wednesday, 
found  on  Friday,  so  swollen  that  no  one  knew  him,  and,  after 
an  inquest  was  held  over  the  body,  he  was  buried  below  high- 
water  mark  that  same  day.  A  sea-shell,  found  in  his  pocket 
at  the  time  of  interment,  by  some  one  present,  who  supposed  it 
to  have  come  from  my  Cousin  Richard  Brown's,  where  I 
boarded,  led  to  the  identification  of  his  body.  The  shell  was 
brought  on  Saturday  morning,  inquiry  was  made,  and  it  was 
found  that  my  father  had  got  the  shell.  Thus  the  dreadful 
secret  was  revealed,  that  my  beloved  and  venerated  father  was 
the  drowned  man.  In  the  water  all  alone,  no  wife,  son,,  daugh- 
ter, or  friend  near  to  witness  the  death-struggle,  he  yielded  up 
his  soul  to  God.  My  father  was  a  good  man,  and,  from  the 
days  of  Robert  Strowbridge  to  the  day  of  his  death,  had  been 
a  consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  He  left  his 
children  a  bright  example  of  every  Christian  virtue.  I  gave 
the  family  notice  of  the  sorrowful  occurrence  on  Saturday  after- 
noon, and  on  Sunday  he  was  disinterred  and  biiried  again,  in 
the  Presbyterian  Cemetery  in  Steubenville.  His  funeral  was 
preached,  to  a  very  large  audience,  by  Rev.  William  Lambdin, 
from  the  fourth  verse  of  the  Twenty-third  Psalm.  That  day  I 
began  to  feel  myself  an  orphan,  and  settled  it  in  my  heart  that 
the  God  of  my  father  should  be  my  God.  As  if  a  voice  from  • 
heaven  had  spoken  to  me,  I  felt  called  to  abandon  sin  and  sin- 
ners, and  betake  myself  to  a  life  of  religion. 

In  the   autumn  of  1811,  I  left  school  and   returned  home, 
and  in  a  short  time  was  called  into   service,  in  the  neighbor- 


ENTER   THE    ARxMY    IN    1812.  47 

tood,  as  a  school-teacher.  This  gave  me  a  fine  opportunity  to 
review  past  studios,  and  to  fasten  more  firmly  on  my  mind  what 
I  had  learned  at  school.  But  in  1812  the  war  came  on.  My 
two  brothers  were  drafted;  my  school  was  given  up,  and  I 
went  home  to  take  care  of  the  farm.  My  broth'er  Nicodemus 
had  not  long  been  married,  and  his  wife  brought  on  herself  a 
sore  spell  of  sickness,  through  grief  at  his  going  into  the 
army.  Nothing  seemed  likely  to  comfort  or  cure  her  but  the 
return  of  her  husband.  I  thought  I  could  more  readily  stand 
the  hardships  of  war  and  the  bullets  of  the  British,  than  the 
•wailings  of  my  brother's  wife.  So,  away  to  the  army  I  went, 
and  was  accepted  as  orderly  sergeant  in  my  brother's  place,  and 
let  him  go  home  to  take  care  of  his  wife  and  the  farm,  two 
important  duties  which  I  was  not  fully  able  to  perform. 

On  the  21st  day  of  September,  1812,  the  regiment  marched 
from  Steubenville,  Ohio,  to  join  General  Harrison  in  the  North- 
west. John  Andrews  was  our  colonel;  Thomas  Latta  was  cap- 
tain of  our  company — both  soldierly-looking  men;  and  the 
whole  regiment  looked  like  rendering  good  service  to  our  coun- 
try, if  called  into  action.  Being  orderly  sergeant,  I  was  taken 
into  the  captain's  mess,  ate  at  his  table,  lodged  in  his  tent,  was 
exempt  from  many  hardships  to  which  others  were  exposed,  and 
did  public  writing  during  my  whole  term  of  service.  Not  many 
men  in  the  army,  at  that  day,  could  make  out  a  pay-roll  or  a 
subsistence  account.  By  permission  of  the  captain,  I  did  a  great 
deal  of  this  kind  of  work  for  the  officers  of  our  regiment,  and 
all  without  charge.  Some  of  them,  however,  rendered  me  a 
compensation  for  my  labor ;  others  did  not,  as  they  lacked  the 
generosity  to  offer  pay  where  no  formal  charge  was  made.  But 
I  had  my  compensation  at  last;  such  business  was  an  improving 
school  to  me,  while  it  saved  me  from  the  harder  duties  of  the 
camp,  and  gave  me  favor  with  most  of  the  officers  of  our  regi- 
ment— a  matter  of  no  small  importance  to  me,  at  that  time. 

From  Steubenville  the  regiment  marched  by  Canton  to  Hu- 
ron, then,  after  considerable  delay,  moved  on  to  Lower  San- 
dusky. While  at  Huron,  Captains  Latta  and  Stidger,  with 
their  companies,  were  detailed   to   take  six   large  open  boats, 


48  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

loaded  with  provision,  from  the  mouth  of  Huron  River,  round 
by  the  hike,  to  Lower  Sandusky.  Stidger's  comjiany  went  as 
guard  along  the  lake  shore ;  Latta's  company  took  the  boats. 
On  the  4th  day  of  December,  the  wind  from  the  north  being 
very  high,  th^  cold  most  intense,  and  the  fearful  breakers  roll- 
ing in  against  the  southern  shore,  out  we  went  into  the  lake. 
Each  of  the  four  boats  that  went  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  river 
before  the  one  I  was  in,  as  it  passed  over  the  breaker  into  the 
trough  between  the  waves,  was  for  a  time  lost  from  sight,  but 
presently  it  rose  on  the  nest  wave,  and  away  it  went.  The 
wind  being  against  us,  our  small  sails  did  us  no  good ;  so,  we 
had  to  row  the  boats — it  was  row  or  perish,  so  terrible  was  the 
wind,  so  fearful  was  the  cold.  About  midnight,  being  driven 
by  the  wind  in  near  against  the  shore,  all  our  boats  ran  hard 
aground  on  a  bar,  at  the  mouth  of  Sandusky  Bay.  We  left 
the  boats,  and  waded  about  sixty  yards  to  the  shore ;  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  carried  out  on  the  back  of  a  soldier.  How 
clever  was  this  ma.n !  How  thankful  I  felt  for  so  great  a  kind- 
ness when  so  thoroughly  overcome  by  cold !  Both  the  compa- 
nies there  came  together  and  built  fires  behind  a  large  sand- 
bant  that  sheltered  them  from  the  wind,  to  dry  their  clothes 
and  warm  themselves.  In  a  little  time  all  were  cheerful  and 
merry,  and  long  before  daylight  all  but  the  guards,  and  a  few 
to  keep  up  the  fires,  were  sound  asleep.  When  I  awoke  in  the 
morning,  I  went  right  to  the  boats.  The  wind  had  fallen ;  the 
lake  had  receded  to  its  proper  level  and  left  them  high  and  dry, 
full  fifty  yards  from  the  water;  and  there  stood  a  large  iron- 
gray  horse,  eating  corn  out  of  one  of  the  boats.  He  was  a  beau- 
tiful animal,  and  as  wild  as  a  deer.  Immediately  I  ran  back 
and  made  report,  and  the  two  companies,  with  guns  in  hand, 
formed  a  semicircle  from  the  water  to  the  water,  closing  him 
in.  He  tried  at  every  point  to  break  the  ranks,  but  the  fearful 
array  of  bristling  bayonets  alarmed  him,  and  he  plunged  into 
the  water,  and  away  he  went  three  miles  across  the  mouth  of 
the  bay.  About  midway  he  struck  a  bar,  where  the  water  came 
only  up  to  his  sides ;  he  turned,  lifted  up  his  head  and  tail, 
gave  us  a  look  of  scornful  defiance,  and  snorted ! — then,  turning, 


GENERAL    HARRISON.  49 

lie  went  in  a  gallop  for  several  rods,  and  plunging  into  deep 
water,  he  swam  away  to  the  point  above  the  bay.  When  he  got 
out,  he  gave  us  another  scornful  look,  turned,  and  galloped  up 
the  point  as  far  as  we  could  see  him.  I  was  told  by  a  gentle- 
man from  Sandusky  City,  about  five  years  ago,  that  that  horse 
was  the  sire  of  the  best  breed  of  horses  in  all  that  region  of 
country.     He  was  a  noble  animal. 

In  a  short  time,  the  wind  came  again  from  the  north,  and 
brought  the  water,  swelling  high,  to  the  southern  shore  of  the 
lake.  Then  we  got  our  boats  off,  and  started  wp  the  bay  for 
Lower  Sandusky ;  but  being  obstructed  by  the  ice,  we  landed 
on  what  is  now  called  Johnson's  Island,  where  we  found  corn, 
turnips,  potatoes,  and  about  two  hundred  fat  hogs.  The  owner 
of  the  island  had  left  all,  and  fled  to  Canada.  Being,  as  we 
learned,  a  Frenchman,  in  sympathy  with  our  enemies,  we  took 
possession  of  every  thing  that  would  be  of  service  to  the  army. 
The  hogs  were  killed,  cleaned,  and  salted ;  and  after  waiting  in 
vain  about  ten  days,  in  hope  of  a  thaw,  so  that  we  could  reach 
our  destination,  we  gave  the  matter  up,  and  returned  down  the 
lake  to  Huron,  bringing  all  we  had  gathered  up  on  the  French- 
man's island  along  with  us.  While  on  that  island  I  came  near 
losing  my  life,  by  eating  a  frozen  turnip ;  a  heavy  cold  settled 
on  my  lungs,  fearfully  indicating  an  approaching  consumption, 
but  in  about  six  weeks  my  health  returned.  This  was  the  only 
sickness  I  had  while  in  the  army.  From  Huron,  our  wing  of 
the  army,  now  amounting  to  a  brigade,  under  command  of  Gen- 
eral Simon  Perkins,  moved  on  by  land  to  Lower  Sandusky, 
where  we  remained  several  days  under  constant  drill.  Xo  army, 
until  thoroughly  drilled,  is  in  a  condition  to  meet  the  enemy  in 
the  day  of  battle.  About  the  17tli  of  January,  1813,  I  saw 
General  Harrison  for  the  first  time.  I  was  greatly  disappointed 
in  his  appearance.  I  had  formed  the  idea  that  our  command- 
ing General,  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  must  be  a  man  of  vast 
proportions,  a  real  giant  in  his  whole  frame-work ;  but  how  I 
was  surprised  and  disappointed  when  I  saw  him,  a  mere  hoop- 
pole  in  military  costume !  But  he  looked  as  tough  as  a  hickory- 
withe,  and  his  dark,  keen,  intelligent  eye,  and  his  care-worn  and 


50  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

thougttful  look,  immediately  impressed  us  all  witli  the  belief 
that  we  had  an  able,  trustworthy  commander — the  right  man  in 
the  right  place. 

About  three  o'clock  that  same  day,  while  General  Har- 
rison was  reviewing  the  troops,  an  express  from  General  Win- 
chester arrived,  containing  information  that  he  had  defeated 
the  British  and  Indians  at  the  River  Raisin,  and  was  holding 
that  position,  with  a  considerable  amount  of  military  stores 
taken  from  the  enemy.  He  called  upon  Harrison  to  bring  on 
the  forces,  and  make  that  the  point  of  concentration  for  the 
whole  North-western  Army,  instead  of  the  Rapids  of  the  Mau- 
mee,  the  place  designated  by  General  Harrison.  This  was  a 
rash  act  of  disobedience  to  orders ;  and,  in  a  council  of  war 
immediately  called,  Harrison  predicted,  among  his  oiEcers,  dis- 
astrous results  to  Winchester,  unless  our  wing  of  the  army 
could,  by  forced  marches  across  the  Black  Swamp,  reach  him 
in  three  days.  This  was  about  the  18th  of  January,  1813. 
That  night  we  received  orders  to  prepare  three  days'  rations, 
and  to  be  ready  to  enter,  at  four  o'clock  the  next  morning, 
upon  a  forced  march  to  relieve  Winchester.  We  were  off  at 
the  time  appointed ;  but,  as  our  train  of  wagons  often  broke 
through  the  ice  in  the  Black  Swamp,  our  progress  was  greatly 
retarded,  for  it  would  not  do  to  leave  our  artillery  and  baggage - 
wagons  behind — a  loss  to  ourselves,  and  a  prey  to  the  enemy. 
On  the  third  day,  in  the  afternoon,  our  advance-guard  reported 
that  all  that  morning  they  had  heard  the  roar  of  artillery 
ahead.  This  put  new  life  into  us  all ;  though  faint  with  march- 
ing, late  and  early,  we  nearly  doubled  our  speed.  But,  on 
reaching  the  Maumee  Bay,  we  began  to  meet  the  refugees  flying 
from  the  field  of  battle — some  without  hats  or  shoes,  others 
without  coats,  others  were  wounded,  and  all  reported  that  Win- 
chester was  defeated !  0,  how  sad  this  news  was  to  all  our 
hearts !  But  we  went  on  down  the  bay  on  the  ice,  still  meet- 
ing more  and  more  of  our  defeated  soldiers,  all  in  a  sad  plight. 
At  last  we  came  to  a  final  halt,  and  General  Harrison,  after  a 
most  thrilling  speech — which  he  wound  up  with  a  flood  of  tears 
for  the  brave  sons  of  Kentucky  who  had,  with   British  allow- 


Winchester's  defeat.  51 

anoe,  after  they  became  prisoners,  been  slaughtered  by  the  mer- 
ciless savages — called  for  volunteers  to  go  to  the  battle-field, 
or  as  near  as  they  could  get,  to  help  away  the  wounded.  Three 
hundred  and  sixty  men  responded  to  the  call.  I  was  one  of 
that  number.  We  were  gone,  on  this  trying  expedition,  from 
about  three  o'clock  P.  M.  until  about  daylight  the  next  morn 
ing,  when  we  rejoined  the  army,  on  Wayne's  old  camp-ground, 
very  much  exhausted.  During  the  afternoon  and  night,  as  we 
moved  on  toward  the  field  of  disastrous  conflict,  we  built  many 
fires  to  warm  the  sufferers,  and  helped  many  a  poor  soldier  in 
distress.  One  major  had  five  wounds — both  his  arms  were  dis- 
abled— still  he  kept  in  his  saddle,  and,  by  some  means,  man- 
aged his  horse  with  his  feet.  On  approtaching  near  the  scene 
of  strife,  we  learned  from  several  wounded  soldiers  that  the 
British  commander,  with  his  Canadian  forces,  had  retired  to 
Fort  Maiden,  leaving  about  fifteen  hundred  drunken  Indians 
on  the  field,  who  wei-e  burning  up  Brownstown,  with  all  the 
wounded  who  had  been  left  in  the  houses.  These  horrid  atroc- 
ities greatly  exasperated  us  all,  and  Ave  felt  that  blood  called 
for  blood ;  but  our  force  was  inferior,  and  our  orders  restrained 
us  from  making  an  attack  upon  these  furious  savages. 

When  we  reached  camp  in  the  morning,  the  scouts  came 
in  with  the  intelligence  (which  afterward  proved  to  be  false,) 
that  the  British  and  Indians  were  advancing  upon  us  in  full 
force.  After  a  council  with  his  ofiicers,  General  Harrison  or- 
dered a  retreat.  So,  after  a  hasty  breakfast,  we  retreated  all 
that  day  through  a  heavy  rain,  and  in  the  evening  crossed  a 
small  river  on  the  ice,  (name  not  now  remembered,)  and  en- 
camped along  with  the  Pennsylvania  troops,  threw  up  breast- 
works of  heavy  timber  as  a  defense  against  the  enemy,  got 
supper,  and  prepared  as  best  we  could,  amid  slush  of  snow 
about  knee-deep,  to  get  some  sleep.  Indeed,  we  all  needed 
sleep.  The  forced  march,  the  night  spent  in  helping  away 
the  wounded  and  stragglers  from  Winchester's  battle-field,  the 
day's  retreat,  without  halting  to  eat  or  rest,  made  sleep  neces- 
sary for  me,  and  I  suppose  for  all  the  others,  especially  my 
companions  in  toil,  who  volunteered  to  help  away  the  wounded. 


52  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

That  night  was  the  first  time,  in  a  long  while,  that  we  were 
able  to  pitch  our  tents ;  the  ground  had  been  frozen  so  hard  we 
could  not  drive  in  our  stakes.  The  snow  was  removed  with  a 
shovel,  the  tent  was  put  up,  and  with  a  little  brush  under  us, 
instead  of  feathers,  we  lay  down,  and  were  immediately  asleep, 
with  a  great  log  fire  just  in  front  of  our  tent.  All  this  seemed 
very  fine  ;  but,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  whole 
camp  was  inundated.  As  if  a  dam  above  us  had  broken,  and 
let  loose  the  water  upon  us,  here  it  came,  about  knee-deep,  all 
over  the  low  bottom  where  we  had  pitched  our  tents,  and  there 
was  no  escape.  When  about  half  buried  in  water,  I  awoke. 
Supposing  the  snow  had  melted  under  me,  I  took  up  a  pan  and 
commenced  throwing  out  the  water;  but  hearing  it  fall  in  the 
water  on  the  outside  of  the  tent,  I  went  out,  and  found  that 
the  river  had  overflown  its  banks,  and  that  the  whole  army  was 
in  commotion — all  were  on  the  lookout  to  see  what  next  was 
to  be  done.  To  meet  the  difficulties  of  our  situation  in  the 
best  manner  our  circumstances  would  permit,  we  raised  log 
platforms  above  the  water,  and  stretched  our  tents  over  them, 
and  built  large  log-heaps  higher  than  the  water,  and  set  them 
on  fire.  Here  we  dried  our  clothes,  cooked  our  rations,  talked 
over  our  troubles,  and  waited  in  patient  hope  of  a  better  time 
to  come ;  and,  in  some  respects,  a  better  time  did  speedily  come 
That  morning  the  wind  changed,  and  came  furiously  from  the 
north ;  the  cold  became  intense,  and  against  night  the  soldiers 
were  running  about  on  the  ice,  and  by  the  next  night  the  ice 
would  bear  our  heaviest  ox-teams.  So,  all  had  solid  ice  to  walk 
and  skate  upon,  and  there  was  much  sport  among  the  boys  in 
the  camp.  But,  alas  for  us  !  these  sports  were  soon  interrupted 
by  disease;  exposure  and  hardships  brought  on  the  bloody-flux, 
and  during  the  eight  days  we  remained  in  that  place,  we  buried 
many  of  our  comrades. 

About  the  1st  of  February,  we  returned  to  the  Rapids  of  the 
Maumee,  and  built  Fort  Meigs.  While  engaged  in  that  work, 
I  went  out  on  many  a  scout,  but  never  came  into  conflict  with 
the  enemy.  About  the  10th  of  March,  as  our  term  of  service 
was  known  to  expire  on  the  21st  of  that  month,  our  company 


START    FOR    HOME.  53 

was  sent,  by  Greneral  Harrison,  to  finish  some  block-liotxses  at 
Lower  Sandusky,  and  then  and  there  to  be  discharged.  .To  turn 
our  i'aces  homeward  was  a  joyful  event  to  us  all;  so  we  crossed 
the  Black  Swamp,  on  the  ice,  in  very  high  glee,  accomplished 
the  work  assigned  us,  and  gained  a  few  days  of  our  time,  and 
were,  all  of  us,  honorably  discharged.  Honorably  discharged, 
having  fought  no  battles !  Other  portions  of  the  army  fought 
battles,  and  we  would  have  done  so  too,  if  a  chance  had  been 
given  us :  our  regiment  often  sought  battle,  but  it  always  fled 
from  us,  and,  to  our  mortification,  we  came  home  without  a  fight. 
On  the  evening  before  we  set  out  for  home,  we  drew  two  days' 
rations,  which  were  supposed  to  be  enough  to  last  us  through 
to  Mansfield.  The  night  before  we  started,  there  fell  a  snow 
about  two  feet  deep.  In  the  morning,  at  eight  o'clock,  without 
dreaming  of  the  trouble  ahead,  we  were  ofi"  for  home.  We 
crossed  the  Sandusky  River  in  canoes ;  there  were  thirty-two 
of  us.  We  gave  three  cheers  on  the  home  side  of  the  river, 
and  were  answered  by  our  moi-e  sensible  and  cautious  comrades, 
who,  on  account  of  the  snow,  declined  to  accompany  ns.  We 
had  to  pass  through  an  unbroken  wilderness  all  the  way  to 
Mansfield.  Our  only  guides  were  the  blazes  on  the  trees.  The 
country  was  level  and  swampy.  About  eleven  o'clock  a  rain  set 
in,  which  continued  several  days;  that  great  body  of  snow  was 
dissolved,  and  the  whole  country  was  pretty  much  covered  with 
water,  which,  level  on  the  surftice,  revealed  not  the  unevenness 
of  the  ground  underneath.  Often  we  plunged,  without  any 
warning  of  our  danger,  into  holes,  over  head  and  ears.  We 
could  tell  when  we  came  to  a  stream,  by  a  gentle  movement 
of  the  water.  We  had  two  axes  in  company,  some  powder  in 
flat  flasks,  which  the  boys  carried  in  their  hats,  tightly  drawn 
on  their  heads,  and  several  rifles.  Over  creeks  we  felled  trees, 
lodging  them  on  their  own  stumps,  and  against  trees  on  the 
other  side.  On  these,  instead  of  bridges,  we  always  got  safely 
over.  When  we  came  to  ponds,  we  always  knew  them  by  the 
ice  rising  to  the  top  of  the  water.  Sometimes,  when  too  many 
would  get  upon  the  ice  at  once,  it  would  break,  and  down  we 
would  all  go.     These  ponds  and  the  creeks  were   numerous, 


54  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

and  gave  us  a  great  deal  of  trouble ;  often  we  suffered  injury 
by  bruising  ourselves  against  the  ice.  All  this  made  traveling 
very  slow.  In  two  days  our  rations  were  gone,  and  it  took  us 
five  days  to  get  through ;  so  we  were  three  days  and  nights 
without  any  thing  to  eat,  save  two  squirrels.  After  wading  and 
plunging  in  ice  and  water  for  four  days,  about  four  P.  M.,  on 
the  fourth  day,  we  came  to  a  little  elevation,  and  found  two 
squirrels.  The  guns'  were  put  in  order,  and  the  squirrels  were 
killed,  broiled,  and  divided  among  thirty-two  of  us.  I  got  a 
fore- leg  for  my  share.  Indeed,  it  was  a  sweet  morsel  to  me ;  to 
this  day  I  remember  how  pleasant  it  tasted.  On  this  little  piece 
of  rising  ground  we  encamped  for  the  night,  built  large  fires, 
and  dried  our  clothes.  We  supposed  ourselves  about  to  get  into 
a  more  elevated  and  rolling  district  of  country,  and  our  joy  was 
very  great. 

The  fifth  morning  came.  For  a  little  time  we  hunted  sweet 
hickory  roots,  to  appease  the  hunger  from  which  we  were  suf- 
fering. We  all  had  money ;  but  how  very  contemptible  was 
money,  when  we  could  buy  nothing  with  it  to  keep  off  starva- 
tion !  Finally,  in  Indian  file,  we  proceeded,  directing  our 
course  by  the  moss  always  found  upon  the  north  side  of  the 
trees,  and  in  a  short  time  came  right  up  against  another  pondj 
covered  with  ice,  over  which  we  could  not  see.  Twenty-four 
of  the  boys  went  in ;  eight  of  us  held  back,  to  see  how  they 
would  get  on.  When  they  were  nearly  out  of  sight,  among  the 
bushes  that  grew  in  the  swamp,  often  breaking  through  the  ice 
as  they  went,  and  when  at  last  we  could  get  no  further  intelli- 
gence from  them,  we  turned  up  to  the  north,  hoping  to  find  a 
better  way.  We  had  not  gone  far  before  we  came  upon  the 
track  of  a  bear,  and,  for  some  time,  our  hunger  prompted  us 
powerfully  to  try  to  overtake  and  kill  him ;  but  at  last  we  gave 
up  the  pursuit,  and  in  a  little  time  crossed  a  stream  about  four 
rods  wide,  and  up  to  our  arms  in  depth,  which,  in  our  opinion, 
supplied  that  large  pond  with  water.  When  safely  over  the 
stream,  we  fired  a  gun,  to  let  our  companions  know  where  we 
were.  The  parties  came  together  in  about  one  hour  afterward, 
and  they  informed  us  that  the  report  of  the  gun  was  heard, 


FAILURE    OF    PROVISIONS.  55 

and  that,  at  that  time,  the  foremost  of  them  had  just  got  out 
of  the  pond,  and  one  man,  a  poor  swimmer,  was  very  near  being 
drowned.  He  was  the  largest  man  in  the  company,  and  the 
smallest  man  among  the  thirty-two,  by  great  exertions,  drew 
him  along  through  deep  water,  where  all  had  to  swim,  and  saved 
his  life.  About  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.,  being  far  behind,  weary 
and  faint  with  hunger,  I  heard  the  boys  ahead  of  me  cheering 
lustily.  This  inspired  me  with  new  energy,  and  on  I  went,  to 
find  out  the  cause  of  the  cheering.  There  they  were,  all  in  a 
circle,  looking  at  some  object  in  the  center,  which  proved  to  be 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  grain  of  corn !  By  this  we  were 
led  to  suppose  ourselves  near  the  settlement,  and  it  filled  us  all 
with  joy.  By  unanimous  consent,  John  Potts,  who  found  the 
grain  of  corn,  was  allowed  the  high  privilege  of  eating  it ;  and 
ofi"  we  started  in  Indian  file  again.  In  about  half  an  hour  an- 
other shout  was  heard ;  it  was  prolonged  and  vehement,  min- 
gled with  much  laughter  and  joy.  When  we  who  were  behind 
came  up,  there  were  the  boys  on  the  ground,  like  so  many  tur- 
keys, scratching  out  of  the  dirt,  and  eating  to  appease  their 
hunger,  the  grains  of  corn  left  where  the  Pennsylvania  troops 
had  encamped  and  fed  their  horses  and  oxen.  Weil,  that  corn 
tasted  sweet  to  me,  and  to  us  all ;  we  ate  it  with  gladness  of 
heart.  But  one  occurrence  there  greatly  marred  our  pleasure, 
and  provoked  general  indignation.  Oif  to  one  side,  on  a  log, 
there  sat  the  large  man,  who  that  day  had  been  saved  from 
drowning  by  the  small  man,  as  before  stated — eating  bread  ! 
and  he  boasted  that  he  had  half  a  loaf  left,  and  invited  us, 
then,  to  help  him  eat  it;  but  no  one  would  do  it;  every  man 
scorned  him,  and  from  that  hour  he  lost  caste  among  us.  Often, 
to  help  him  along,  had  this  man's  heavy  knapsack  been  carried 
by  his  comrades.  And  often,  during  our  three  days  of  starva- 
tion, while  he  carried  it  himself,  did  he  fall  back  to  eat,  as  we 
now  supposed,  his  morsel  alone.  Now,  all  agreed  that  he  might 
finish  his  loaf  by  himself,  for  we  could  not  afi"ord  to  eat  a  mean 
man's  bread.  That  afternoon,  about  four  o'clock,  we  came  to 
Mansfield,  where  we  were  amply  supplied  with  all  we  needed; 
and  in  about  four  days  more  I  reached  home,  and  felt  glad  that 


56  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

the  toils  of  the  campaign  were  over,  and  that  God  had  spared 
my  life  to  see  my  relations  and  friends  once  more. 

On  a  review  of  the  campaign  of  1812-13,  though  our  wing 
of  the  army  had  no  battles,  yet  they  had  a  great  deal  of  toil 
and  suiferiug  to  endure.  Our  north-western  frontier  was  then 
an  unbroken  wilderness,  full  of  streams  to  bridge,  and  swamps 
to  cross  by  bridging,  or  otherwise;  sometimes  the  ice  was  our 
bridge.  As  we  had  no  railroads  at  that  time,  to  carry  armies 
or  military  stores,  wagons  and  pack-horses  had  to  be  used,  and 
the  army  marched  on  foot.  Each  night,  before  we  slept,  as  a 
protection  against  the  enemy,  breastworks  were  thrown  up  all 
around  the  encampment.  The  winter  was  very  hard;  the 
ground  was  frozen,  and  the  snow  was  deep.  During  the  hard- 
est of  the  winter  we  could  not  pitch  our  tents,  it  being  impos- 
sible to  drive  the  tsnt-stakes  into  the  ground ;  so  we  built  large 
fires  to  keep  ourselves  warm.  Before  these  fires,  with  our  tent- 
cloth  thrown  over  some  brush,  which  we  used  instead  of  feath- 
ers, wrapped  in  our  blankets,  with  our  knapsacks  for  pillows, 
we  laid  ourselves  down  under  the  open  heavens,  exposed  to 
frost,  or  snow,  or  rain,  or  whatever  came.  Sometimes  our  heads 
were  white  with  frost  in  the  morning ;  often  we  were  covered 
several  inches  deep  with  snow,  or  drenched  with  rain.  To  en- 
dure all  this,  and  not  be  sick,  required  a  very  firm  constitution. 
Harrison's  soldiers  became  nearly  as  hardy  as  wild  beasts.  By 
the  good  providence  of  God,  I  returned  home  in  perfect  health, 
even  better  than  I  had  before  I  entered  the  army. 

Of  my  religious  condition  while  in  the  army,  it  may  be 
proper,  in  closing  this  chaj)ter,  to  say  a  little.  From  the  time 
of  the  death  of  my  father,  I  had  religious  impressions,  and  fer- 
vently prayed  to  God,  in  secret  places,  to  show  me  the  way  of 
salvation.  On  the  subject  of  being  born  again,  I  was  a  perfect 
Nicodemus — my  gross  mind  could  not  comprehend  that  spiritual 
change  required  by  our  Lord.  In  this  condition  I  went  into 
the  army,  where  I  found  very  pious  officers  and  soldiers,  who, 
on  all  convenient  occasions,  held  prayer-meetings.  These  meet- 
ings I  attended,  and  took  part  in  the  singing,  but  never  ven- 
tured to  lead  in  prayer  j  yet  I  constantly  prayed  in  secret,  until 


MY   RELIGIOUS    CONDITION.  57 

near  the  close  of  my  term  of  service,  when  I  became  discour- 
aged and  gave  the  matter  up.  One  night,  while  doing  public 
writing  in  the  captain's  tent,  some  officers  in  a  neighboring  tent 
commenced  singing  a  vain,  carnal  song,  with  which  I  had  for- 
merly been  familiar,  and,  before  I  was  aware  of  what  I  was  do- 
ing, I  found  myself  quite  carried  away  with  it,  and  was  singing 
with  them  lustily.  When  it  was  over,  on  mature  reflection 
upon  what  I  had  done,  my  spirit  was  wounded,  my  soul  was 
discouraged,  all  my  power  over  sin  had  departed,  and  I  did  not 
dare  to  pray  any  more  until  I  returned  home.  I  now  see  that 
all  this  was  utterly  wrong.  He  who  goes  on  an  errand,  and 
stumbles  and  falls  by  the  way,  should  not  lie  in  the  mud,  cry- 
ing, but  should  spring  to  his  feet,  and  run  the  faster,  and  with 
greater  care.  But  so  did  not  I.  My  soul  was  in  deep  distress ; 
the  devil  now  had  me  down  in  the  mud,  and  he  kept  me  there 
for  several  months.  What  a  blessing  it  would  have  been  to 
me,  at  that  time,  to  have  had  the  counsel  of  some  faithful 
Christian  friend,  to  help  me  to  recover  from  my  fall !  But  this 
I  could  not  have,  because  I  had  foolishly  resolved  to  let  no 
one  know  my  spiritual  condition.  It  is  truly  wonderful  to  me 
now,  that,  for  so  many  years,  I  should  have  allowed  the  enemy 
of  my  soul  to  lock  up  my  mouth,  and  render  me  completely 
dumb  on  the  subject  of  my  soul's  eternal  welfare.  What  Chris- 
tian on  earth  could  render  me  any  service  by  his  counsel,  un- 
less he  knew  my  spiritual  necessities?  Evil  associations  and  a 
disposition  to  conceal  all  my  religious  impressions  from  Chris- 
tian friends,  whose  help  I  so  much  needed,  proved  a  very  great 
hindrance  to  me,  in  seeking  the  salvation  of  my  soul. 

During  the  summer  of  1813,  I  attended  a  camp-meeting  at 
some  distance  from  home.  There  I  did  hope  to  be  out  of 
reach  of  the  influence  of  my  former  associates,  and  that  I 
should  have  an  unobstructed  opportunity  to  seek  the  Lord. 
There  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  deeply  moved  my  heart.  But, 
being  an  utter  stranger,  no  one  spoke  to  me  about  my  soul ; 
often  did  I  wish  that  some  one  would.  I  had  not  the  courage 
to  venture  forward  to  the  altar  of  prayer.  So  the  meeting 
^nded,  and  I  returned  home  without  finding  the  Saviour.  For 
4 


58  EECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE, 

a  short  time,  I  then  indulged  in  all  the  pleasures  of  sin,  as  they 
are  called,  and  ran  madly  away  from  Christ.  But  I  soon  found 
that  to  sin  against  the  clearest  light  and  knowledge  that  God 
had  given  me,  was  an  evil  and  a  bitter  thing;  so  I  determined 
on  two  things :  first,  to  come  out  entirely  from  all  wicked  com- 
pany ;  and,  secondly,  that  I  would  no  longer  conceal  my  spir- 
itual condition  from  those  who  were  both  able  and  willing  to 
instruct  me  in  the  things  of  Grod. 


TRIP   TO   BALTIMORE.  59 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Trip  to  Baltimore— Had  to  Decide  Between  my  Two  Brothers— The  Camp-Mebtino, 
AND  the  Giants  of  Methodism— My  Conversion  and  Happiness— Robert  Fisher— 
The  Praver-Meeting  and  the  Cross— Joined  the  Church— Gilbert  Middleton, 
Class-Leader— His  Faithfulness— Members  of  his  Class— The  Class  of  Young 
Men  who  held  Prayee-Mf.etings— Commenced  Preaching  while  on  Prubation — 
My  Studies — The  Baltimore  Local  Preachers— An  Effort  to  Repair  an  Injury 
to  my  Brother— Studies  Continued  in  my  Brother's  Tan-Yard— A  Soldier  Again, 
IN  Defense  of  Baltimore  against  the  British— A  Soldier  Condemned  to  be  Shot— 
Keflections  on  that  Thrilling  Scene— First  Love-Feast  I  attended  in  Balti- 
more— Licensed  to  Preach  in  ISU. 

My  two  brotliers,  Edward  and  Jolin,  who  resided  in  Balti- 
more, on  learning  that  I  liad  returned  in  safety  from  the  North- 
western Army,  both  wrote  me  letters,  urging  me  to  visit  them, 
and  promising  to  aid  me  in  getting  into  a  clerkship,  or  some 
other  suitable  business,  in  Baltimore.  So,  in  compliance  with 
their  wishes,  I  left  my  beloved  mother  in  care  of  my  brother 
Richard,  who  managed  the  farm  and  all  the  home  concerns,  and 
about  the  last  of  August  I  set  out  for  that  city.  Nothing  of  spe- 
cial interest  occurred  during  the  journey  until  I  reached  Pipe 
Creek,  Maryland,  the  old  home  of  my  parents — the  place  where 
they  espoused  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  became  members  of  the 
first  class  of  Methodists  ever  organized  in  that  state.  There, 
among  my  relations  whom  I  had  never  seen  before,  I  spent 
about  one  week,  and  found  many  of  them  devoted  Christians, 
in  fellowship  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  With 
them  I  attended  several  meetings,  and  was  deeply  imjjressed  by 
their  conversation,  prayers,  the  preaching,  and  other  religious 
exercises,  with  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  conversion  of  my 
Boul.  To  me  it  was  as  clear  as  Holy  Writ  could  make  it,  that 
I  was  utterly  unfit  for,  and  unworthy  of,  such  society  as  I 
was  then  inj  so  I  determined  upon  a  new  course  of  life. 


60  RECOLLECTIONS    OF  ITINERANT   LIFE. 

While  in  the  stage,  passing  on  from  Westminster  to  Balti- 
more, some  young  Baltimoreans,  whose  exterior  would  have 
passed  them  off  for  gentlemen,  wei'e  exceedingly  profane;  such 
vulgar  swearing  I  had  never  heard  before.  To  myself,  in  my 
heart,  I  said:  "Are  these  Baltimoreans?  Am  I  going  to  that 
city?  and  are  such  men  as  these  to  be  my  associates?  No, 
indeed,  this  thing  shall  never  be!"  Then  and  there,  in  the 
midst  of  those  vulgar  blasphemers,  I  entered  into  covenant 
with  the  Lord,  and  sealed  that  covenant  with  many  tears  and 
fervent  prayers,  that  I  never  would,  of  choice,  have  another 
wicked  companion,  and  that  the  people  of  God  should  be  my 
people,  to  the  end  of  life.  That  evening  I  reached  Baltimore, 
and  found  a  hearty  welcome  at  the  house  of  my  brother  Ed- 
ward. He  and  his  family  and  my  brother  John  were  all  in 
good  health,  and  expressed  great  gratification  at  my  arrival, 
and  John  immediately  gave  me  an  invitation  to  accompany  him 
to  the  theater,  for  he  was  a  real  man  of  the  world,  and  made 
DO  pretensions  to  religion.  My  brother  Edward,  a  good  man, 
and  a  very  zealous  Methodist,  asked  me  to  accompany  him  to 
the  prayer-meeting  in  Old  Town.  That  night  I  had  to  decide 
between  my  two  brothers.  I  loved  them  both,  and  did  not 
like  to  offend  either  of  them ;  but,  remembering  my  covenant 
made  that  day  with  the  Lord,  in  the  stage,  I  determined  to  go 
with  Edward  to  the  prayer-meeting;  and  I  found  that,  in  so 
doing,  all  the  religious  purposes  of  my  heart  were  invigorated, 
and  that  Grod  had  given  me  more  than  ever  to  feel  my  need  of 
the  Saviour.  My  heart  was  melted  into  tendeimess,  and  my 
choking  grief,  on  account  of  the  sad  condition  of  my  soul,  al- 
most forbade  utterance.  A  few  days  after  this,  my  brother 
Edward  took  me  with  him  to  a  camp-meeting,  about  fifteen 
miles  out  from  Baltimore.  All  the  way  to  that  meeting  I  was 
utterly  unable  to  converse  with  any  one;  but  wept  and  prayed 
in  deep  distress,  until  we  reached  the  encampment.  There,  for 
the  first  time,  I  saw  and  heard  the  great  giants  of  Method- 
ism^^Bevs.  Asa  Shinn,  Nicholas  Snethen,  William  Ryland,  and 
Alexander  McCain.  The  whole  scene  was  new  to  me,  and  for 
a  short  time  I  indulged  in  an  agreeable  survey  of  the  encamp- 


THE    CAMP -MEETING.  61 

ment — so  large,  regular,  and  military  in  its  appearance.  In  a 
little  time  preaching  came  on.  The  preacher  was  a  colored 
man,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten.  He  stood  behind  the  stand, 
and,  with  uncommon  power,  delivered  a  discourse  to  a  large  con- 
gregation of  colored  people.  This  was  the  first  son  of  Ham  I 
had  ever  heard  preach  the  Gospel,  and  this  sermon  revealed 
two  things  to  me :  first,  that  he  was  a  capital  preacher ; 
and,  secondly,  that  I  was  a  poor,  miserable  sinner,  in  great 
danger  of  losing  my  soul.  The  sermon  being  over,  I  went  to 
the  woods,  and  sought  a  secluded  place  for  prayer,  for  my  dis- 
tress was  so  great  that  it  wonderfully  exhausted  all  my  phys- 
ical energies.  To  this  private  place  in  the  woods  I  resorted 
for  prayer  at  the  close  of  every  sermon,  from  Thursday  until 
Tuesday,  eating  but  little,  and  sleep  had  well-nigh  departed 
from  me.  When  the  trumpet  was  sounded  for  preaching,  then 
my  bower  of  prayer  was  vacated,  and  a  seat  taken  in  the  con- 
gregation, at  the  root  of  a  venerable  oak,  near  the  corner  of 
the  altar,  where  I  sat,  as  a  criminal  before  his  judge,  to  hear 
the  Word  of  the  Lord.  To  myself  I  could  appropriate  the  ter- 
rors of  the  law  in  all  their  dreadful  severity,  but  had  no  power 
yet  to  claim  the  great  and  precious  promises  of  the  Gospel. 

On  Sabbath  morning,  Mr.  Shinn  preached.  The  congrega- 
tion was  uncommonly  large.  His  text  was  taken  from  John 
xviii,  23 :  "  Jesus  answered  him,  If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear 
witness  of  the  evil:  but  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  me?"  This 
was  a  sermon  directed  against  infidelity.  His  argumentative 
eloquence  was  overwhelming;  but  from  it  I  received  nothing 
but  a  deeper  condemnation,  for  I,  too,  had  smitten  Jesus  in  ten 
thousand  ways,  and  deserved  the  sorest  punishnient.  So  I  la- 
bored on,  between  the  bower  of  prayer  in  the  woods  and  the 
root  of  the  oak  in  the  congregation,  until  Tuesday  afternoon, 
when  Mr.  Snethen  preached  from  John  xiii,  13-17:  "Ye  call 
me  Master  and  Lord,  and  ye  say  well,  for  so  I  am,"  etc.  That 
sermon  did  reveal  to  me  my  whole  condition — the  stubborn 
pride  and  self-will  of  my  soul.  As  a  young  forest  bends  before 
a  heavy  wind,  so  did  that  immense  congregation  bend  before 
the  power  of  the  Lord,  on  that  camp-ground.     Not  for  a  thou- 


62  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

sand  dollars  a  man,  would  those  young  men  of  Baltimore,  who 
treated  the  order  of  the  meeting  with  contempt,  have  lain  on 
their  backs  in  the  aisle,  in  the  dust,  if  they  could  have  helped 
it.  There  was  a  power  there  that  managed  every  body.  No 
one  went  to  the  altar  that  day :  the  whole  encampment  was  the 
altar,  and  all  over  it  the  people  were  down,  crying  for  mercy; 
and  in  all  directions,  from  professing  Christians,  the  shout  of. 
praise  went  up  to  God.  To  my  bower  of  prayer  my  heart  in- 
clined me  to  go ;  but,  on  making  trial  to  accomplish  my  pur- 
pose, I  found  that  all  my  physical  energy  was  gone,  and  there 
I  lay  at  the  root  of  the  oak,  helpless  as  a  child,  calling  on 
"God  to  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  When  I  could  run  no 
longer,  then  I  felt  willing  to  be  ranked  among  the  penitents, 
and  that  my  spiritual  condition  should  be  known.  My  brother 
Edward  came,  looking  here  and  there,  among  the  slain  of  the 
Lord,  and  at  last  he  found  me,  in  deep  distress,  at  the  foot  of 
the  oak.  "0,  brother  George!"  said  he,  "is  this  you?"  His 
warm  tears  fell  on  my  face  as  he  knelt  by  my  side,  and  spoke 
the  words  of  scriptural  encouragement  to  my  heart.  He  then 
prayed  most  fervently  for  my  salvation,  and,  while  he  did  so, 
my  strength  came  again,  and  he  helped  me  up;  and,  as  he  was 
taking  me  to  Owen  Dorsey's  tent,  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
encampment,  I  leaning  on  his  arm  for  support  as  we  went, 
Rev.  William  Ryland  met  us.  He  was  an  aged  minister,  and 
very  much  in  earnest  in  his  Master's  work.  Looking  me  fully 
in  the  face,  and  stretching  out  toward  me  his  long  arms  and 
pale,  withered  hands,  trembling  at  once  with  eagerness  and 
age,  he  said:  "I  am  commissioned,  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
to  tell  such  broken-hearted,  penitent  sinners  as  you  are,  that 
Christ  died  to  save  you.  Yes,"  said  he,  "he  died  for  you  as 
really  as  if  there  had  been  nobody  else  in  the  world  for  him 
to  die  for  but  you ;  and  you  have  a  right  to  believe  it.  All 
men  have  a  right  to  believe  the  truth ;  and,  if  you  do  n't  be- 
lieve it,  I  '11  go  and  offer  him  to  some  one  else."  That  man's 
earnest  manner,  and  the  truth  he  declared,  accompanied  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  overcame  my  unbelief;  and,  as  he  turned  away 
from  me,  I  did  receive  the  Saviour,  and  felt  in  my  soul  a  peace 


MY  CONVERSION   AND    HAPPINESS.  63 

hitherto  unknown.  The  Master  had  spoken,  the  storm  had 
ceased,  and  there  was  a  great  calm! 

We  remained  in  that  place  a  little  time,  and  I  begun  to  rea- 
son on  the  state  of  my  heart,  in  about  the  following  manner: 
"Can  this  be 'conversion?  Is  it  the  blessing  of  justification? 
I  have  heard  no  voice  from  above ;  no  angel  hath  touched  my 
lips  with  a  live  coal,  taken  with  the  tongs  from  oflF  the  altar; 
I  have  no  rapturous  joy  such  as  many  speak  of  as  attending 
conversion.  It  will  not  do  to  be  deceived  in  this  matter.  I 
would  rather  be  a  sincere  seeker  than  a  deceived  professor." 
So  on  we  moved  to  Owen  Dorsey's  tent,  where  many  penitents 
from  Baltimore  were  collected.  After  an  address  to  earnest 
penitents,  by  Rev.  Asa  Shinn,  all  the  seekers  of  salvation  were 
invited  to  kneel  at  the  mourner's  bench.  I  went  down  among 
the  rest,  but  could  not  pray;  the  spirit  of  rejoicing  had  come 
upon  me — I  had  all  joy,  as  well  as  peace,  in  believing.  This 
joyous  state  of  my  heart  was  soon  found  out  by  the  brethren, 
who  lifted  me  up,  and,  in  the  midst  of  them  all,  I  stood  and 
made  an  open  declaration  of  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  my 
soul.  Thus  I  entered  the  service  of  Christ,  on  the  21st  day  of 
September,  1813,  just  one  year  after  I  entered  the  service  of 
my  country,  under  General  Harrison.  Before  my  conversion, 
the  distressed  feelings  of  my  heart  cast  a  gloom  over  every 
thing;  but  now  all  was  changed — my  soul  was  unspeakably 
happy,  and  the  whole  creation  smiled.  I  felt  a  delight  in  the 
company  of  the  children  of  God,  that  no  tongue  could  express, 
and  with  them  entered  at  ouce  most  heartily  into  the  exercises 
of  the  meeting,  at  least  so  far  as  singing  was  concerned.  The 
next  morning  the  meeting  closed,  and  we  all  returned  home. 

After  our  return  to  Baltimore,  Robert  Fisher,  a  venerable 
Methodist  of  about  forty  years'  standing,  came  to  the  house  of 
my  brother,  and  took  me  into  the  front  parlor,  to  a  private  in- 
terview. There  he  gave  me  much  fatherly  counsel,  in  a  truly 
Christian  spirit.  Before  we  parted,  he  gained  from  me  a  prom- 
ise that  I  would  never  evade  or  run  round  the  cross.  "  Young 
Christians,"  he  afl&rmed,  "would  absolutely  backslide,  if  they 
did  not  bear  the  cross.     If  called  on  to  pray,  even  in  the  street, 


64  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

by  your  elder  brethren,  tbe  cross  must  be  borne,  or  your  soul 
will  suffer  loss."  So,  having  me  fully  pledged  in  this  matter, 
he  left  me. 

The  next  Monday  night,  at  Adam  Riley's,  just  in  our  neigh- 
borhood, there  was  a  prayer-meeting  for  the  camp-meeting  con- 
verts and  the  penitents.  Two  rooms  in  the  house  were  crowded 
when  I  went.  I  could  scarcely  get  in  at  the  first  door;  and 
there  stood  the  venerable  Fisher  at  the  middle  door,  conduct- 
ing the  meeting.  When  the  first  prayer  was  over,  he  called  on 
me,  by  name,  to  come  forward,  take  the  book,  and  sing  and  pray. 
This  alarmed  me;  every  nerve  quaked,  and  I  looked  round  the 
room  to  see  if  some  other  Greorge  Brown  was  not  there,  sup- 
posing it  hardly  possible  he  could  mean  me,  for  I  had  been 
only  five  days  converted,  and  had  not  yet  joined  the  Church. 
Again  he  called  my  name,  beckoned  me  forward,  and  I  had  to 
go,  or  violate  my  promise  to  bear  the  cross ;  but  I  found  it  to  be 
heavy  indeed,  and  could  scarcely  find  courage  to  go  forward  in 
the  duty  assigned  me.  Taking  up  the  hymn-book,  I  read  the 
first  two  lines  of  the  first  hymn : 

"0  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing 
My  great  Redeemer's  praise;" 

and  while  they  were  being  sung,  my  eyes  were  closed  tight,  to 
avoid  seeing  the  people,  for  I  was  perfectly  terror-stricken. 
When  I  came  to  read  again,  in  my  confusion  I  read  the  first 
two  lines  of  the  second  verse,  and  closed  my  eyes  again.  The 
tune  was  changed  to  suit,  and  on  the  singing  went,  in  fine  style ; 
but  my  mistake  greatly  increased  my  confusion.  When  the 
book  was  opened  to  read  again,  my  eyes  could  see  nothing 
clearly ;  the  words  and  lines  were  all  mixed  up,  and  so  tangled 
together  that  I  could  go  no  further.  After  a  momentary  pause, 
I  said,  "  Let  us  pray."  Thus,  with  a  cross  on  my  soul  more 
weighty  than  I  can  describe,  did  I,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life, 
in  a  public  assembly,  undertake  to  lead  in  prayer  to  God.  I 
had  given  my  pledge  to  Robert  Fisher,  that  I  would  never 
flinch  from  the  cross,  and  he  held  me  to  my  word ;  and  it  af- 
forded me  satisfaction  afterward  that  I  had  at  least  made  the 


GILBERT  MIDDLETON,  CLASS-LEADER.  65 

effort  to  keep  the  promise  which  he  had  induced  me  to  make. 
The  old  gentleman  afterward  met  me,  and  gave  me  much  good 
counsel  and  encouragement.  From  and  after  that  time  I  had 
the  cross  to  bear  wherever  the  brethren  could  get  an  opportu- 
nity to  lay  it  on  me.  It  never  did  me  any  harm.  No,  indeed; 
it  always  did  me  good.  It  led  to  increased  effort  to  obtain  a 
holy  heart  and  life ;  and  in  all  after  days,  I  have  most  consci- 
entiously believed  that  the  way  of  the  cross  is  the  way  to  the 
crown.  It  is  the  settled  conviction  of  my  mind,  that  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  save  any  of  the  depraved 
children  of  Adam,  without,  in  a  diversity  of  ways,  laying  the 
cross  upon  them.  If  poor,  fallen  human  nature,  with  all  its 
stubborn  and  rebellious  inclinations,  be  left  to  take  its  own 
course,  without  ever  being  crossed,  or  obstructed  in  its  mad 
career,  it  will  certainly  find  its  way  to  perdition.  Christ  saves 
our  souls  by  the  blood  of  his  cross,  and  by  calling  us  to  deny 
ourselves,  take  up  our  cross  and  follow  him. 

Immediately  after  this  memorable  prayer-meeting  at  Adam 
Riley's,  without  waiting  for  a  public  opportunity  to  join  the 
Church,  I  went  to  the  parsonage  and  gave  my  name  to  the 
preacher  in  charge  of  the  Baltimore  stations,  (Rev.  William 
Ryland,)  as  a  probationer  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
The  class  to  which  he  assigned  me  was  led  by  Gilbert  Middle- 
ton,  an  old  Revolutionary  soldier,  a  man  of  advanced  age,  and 
of  great  experience  in  the  things  of  God.  I  was  the  only 
young  man  in  the  class ;  all  the  rest  were  men  rather  advanced 
in  life,  and  well  matured  in  Christian  experience.  This  was  a 
good  class  for  me  to  be  in.  My  leader  was  wise,  tender,  and 
searching  in  his  exercises ;  and  sometimes  his  pithy  sayings 
were  a  little  amusing.  One  Sabbath  morning  it  rained ;  only 
a  few  were  present,  and,  after  waiting  a  short  time,  one  of  the 
members  said  to  the  leader,  "  I  suppose  you  will  not  meet  class 
this  wet  morning — there  are  so  few  of  us."  The  old  veteran 
lifted  up  his  head,  set  back  his  spectacles,  and  said,  "  Brother 
Wood,  it  is  true  there  are  but  few  of  us  present,  but  there  are 
entirely  too  many  of  us  to  go  to  hell :  I  believe  we  '11  meet  class  j" 
and  he  proceeded  with  his  work  faithfully. 


66  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

The  well-matured  and  far-advanced  experience  of  tlie  aged 
Christian  men  belonging  to  our  class  left  my  infantile  experi- 
ence so  far  in  the  rear  as  to  create  doubts  in  my  mind  as  to 
the  reality  of  my  own  justification  and  adoption  into  the  family 
of  Grod.  I  was  simply  a  young  convert,  a  sinner  recently  saved 
by  grace ;  but  my  classmates  were  hoary -headed  saints,  far  ad- 
vanced in  the  Divine  life.  My  religious  experience  fell  so  far 
short  of  theirs,  that  I  was  often,  in  class-meeting,  led  to  fear 
that  I  had  deceived  myself  in  my  profession  of  the  Saviour's  re- 
ligion, and  that  I  had  neither  part  nor  lot  in  the  matter.  On 
such  occasions,  my  doubts  and  fears  were  faithfully  reported, 
and  to  me  the  kind  sympathy  of  those  aged  Christians  was  ex- 
tended. They  had  traveled  over  the  same  road,  and  had  once 
felt  the  same  doubts  and  fears,  and  were,  therefore,  prepared  to 
give  me  counsel  in  the  day  of  trial,  and  to  assure  me  that,  if  I 
continued  faithful,  what  I  knew  not  now.  Cod  would  make 
known  to  me  hereafter.  As  is  the  difference  between  a  prat- 
tling infant  and  a  full-grown,  intelligent  man,  so  was  that  which 
existed  between  those  aged  Christians  and  myself.  Among 
them  I  was  a  babe  in  the  family.  They  all  loved  me,  prayed 
for  me,  and  watched  over  my  soul  with  fatherly  solicitude. 

In  the  Old  Town  Church  in  Baltimore,  to  which  I  belonged, 
there  was  a  very  zealous  class  of  pious  young  men,  who  had 
engaged  to  hold  prayer-meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  city, 
of  evenings,  during  the  week.  They  took  me  into  their  num- 
ber, and  often  put  me  forward  to  lead  the  meetings,  and  to 
deliver  a  few  words  of  exhortation.  However  great  the  cross, 
I  did  not  dare  to  refuse,  for,  as  I  have  said,  I  had  brought 
myself  under  a  promise  to  Robert  Fisher  that  I  never  would 
evade  it.  These  religious  exercises  were  to  me  a  means  of 
spiritual  improvement  and  consolation.  They  were  a  bless- 
ing to  us  all,  and  they  did  good  in  the  community,  for  at  our 
prayer-meetings  many  sinners  were  converted  to  God,  and  by 
them  the  Church  gained  an  increase  of  members. 

In  a  short  time,  the  local  preachers — in  that  day  a  very 
zealous  and  laborious  class  of  men — began  to  take  me  with 
them,  on  Sundays,  to  their  appointments  in  the  country.     On 


STUDIES    CONTINUED    IN    MY  BROTHER'S    TAN-YARD,       67 

euch.  occasions  I  was  directed  to  give  an  exportation  after  the 
sermon,  and  to  close  the  meeting  with  singing  and  prayer,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  they  laid  on  the  cross  more  heavily,  for 
they  called  upon  me  to  preach.  This  was  a  work  which  I 
felt  wholly  unable  to  perform ;  besides,  I  was  only  a  proba- 
tionary member  of  the  Church.  This,  it  was  said  by  those 
preachers,  made  no  difference ;  Paul  preached  in  a  few  days 
after  his  conversion,  and  the  Lord  had  a  work  for  me  to  do, 
and  I  must  do  it.  Having  surrendered  myself  to  the  guidance 
of  my  elder  brethren,  and  being  under  promise  always  to  bear 
the  cross,  I  at  last  consented  to  make  a  trial.  Thus  led  on, 
step  after  step,  by  means  of  the  Baltimore  local  preachers,  and 
the  providence  of  God,  I  became — before  I  was  a  full  member 
of  the  Church,  and  without  any  Church  authority  at  all — act- 
ively engaged  in  the  great  work  of  calling  sinners  to  repent- 
ance. 

Shortly  after  my  conversion,  I  entered  into  my  brother  Ed- 
ward's tan-yard  and  went  to  work.  I  loved  my  brother,  and 
wanted  to  be  with  him,  believing  he  would  be  of  great  service 
to  me  in  a  religious  point  of  view;  withal,  I  deemed  the  tan- 
ning trade  a  good  one.  Yet,  after  all,  I  did  not  believe  I 
should  ever  follow  that  trade,  for  my  heart  was  now  fully  set 
on  the  Christian  ministry,  and  I  was  induced  to  believe  I  could 
carry  on  a  course  of  reading,  and  preparation  for  the  ministry, 
along  with  regular  labor.  In  this  tan-yard,  therefore,  I  con- 
tinued until  the  close  of  the  year  1814.  During  that  time,  I 
was  a  hard  student,  and  read  many  valuable  books.  Of  long 
winter  evenings,  I  went  to  school  to  acquaint  myself  with  Eng- 
lish Grammar.  But  the  Holy  Scriptures,  Wesley's  Sermons, 
and  Clark's  Commentary — then  coming  out  in  numbers — en- 
grossed my  chief  attention.  While  thus  laboring  in  the  tan- 
yard,  and  carrying  on  my  preparatory  studies  as  best  I  could, 
I  still  continued  to  preach  in  the  country,  as  opportunity  of- 
fered; nor  did  the  Lord  let  me  labor  in  vain.  The  local 
preachers  who  drew  me  forth,  put  me  forward,  and  helped  me 
on,  in  my  early  efforts  as  a  Christian  preacher,  were  all  men 
of  sterling   moral   worth,   and    very   zealous    in    the   cause   of 


68  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

Christ.  All  the  Methodist  Churches  in  Baltimore,  at  that 
time,  were  working,  pious,  and  prosperous  Churches,  and  they 
were  generally  under  the  pastoi'al  cai-e  of  the  leading  ministers 
of  the  connection.  All  the  iujfluences  then  surrounding  me, 
in  my  Church  relations,  were  of  the  right  kind  to  aid  me  in  a 
growth  in  grace,  and  help  me  on  in  the  work  whereunto  I  felt 
myself  called.  Methodism  in  Baltimore,  at  that  time,  stood 
very  high  in  my  estimation. 

Here  it  may  be  proper  to  go  back  a  little.  While  drinking 
the  bitter  cup  of  penitential  sorrow,  and  feeling  a  load  of  sin 
and  guilt  too  intolerable  to  be  borne,  I  promised  the  Lord,  if  he 
would  grant  me  the  knowledge  of  salvation,  by  the  remission 
of  my  sins,  that  I  would  not  only  live  according  to  the  Gos- 
pel— his  grace  assisting  me — in  time  to  come,  but  would,  to 
the  utmost  of  my  ability,  undo  all  the  evil  of  my  past  life. 
In  this  state  of  heart  I  found  forgiveness,  and  was  adopted  into 
the  Divine  family,  and,  for  a  short  time,  my  cup  of  joy  was 
full.  But,  upon  a  careful  review  of  the  past,  I  found  nothing 
to  give  me  joy.  My  whole  career  had  been  one  of  sin,  and  all 
was  past  remedy,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  except  one  thing, 
and  that,  too,  was  beyond  my  power  to  rectify,  unless  the  Lord 
would  help  me.  My  |)rother  Richard,  about  two  years  older 
than  myself,  had  been  converted  to  God,  and  I,  a  thoughtless, 
perverse  youth,  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  by  diverting  my- 
self with  his  religious  exercises,  had,  in  my  own  opinion  of  the 
matter,  caused  him  to  backslide  from  the  Saviour.  During  the 
whole  of  after  life  I  deeply  regretted  this  awfully  wicked  act, 
and  now,  since  my  conversion,  as  I  thought  more  and  more  on 
the  subject,  my  concern  was  greatly  increased.  At  last  I  left 
Baltimore,  with  the  consent  of  my  brother  Edward,  and  went 
to  Ohio,  to  see  Richard.  We  talked  the  matter  over,  and  I  got 
him  to  attend  all  the  meetings  which  I  held  in  his  vicinity, 
and  at  the  house  of  my  mother,  during  my  stay  of  about  two 
weeks.  The  Lord  gave  me  success ;  my  brother  returned  to 
Christ,  and  I  went  home  to  Baltimore,  greatly  comforted  in  my 
own  soul.  In  my  judgment,  God  will  forgive  a  penitent 
who  promises  reparation  of  injuries  done   to  others,  so  far  aa 


A   SOLDIER   AGAIN.  69 

may  he  in  his  power;  but  if  there  is  a  willful  failure  to  fulfill 
the  promise,  forgiveness  will  thereby  be  forfeited,  happiness 
destroyed,  and  the  soul  be  in  danger  of  being  lost.  In  all 
cases  where  reparation  to  another  for  injuries  done  is  at  all 
possible,  it  must  be  made;  Grod  requires  it,  .and  no  man,  with 
safety  to  his  soul,  can  evade  his  requirements.  Mine  was  a 
case  of  unusual  concern  to  me.  I  had  injured  my  own  dear 
brother,  in  his  soul,  by  unjustifiable  mimicry.  He  became  angry, 
fell  into  sin,  and  gave  up  religion.  The  teaching  of  Christ,  in 
such  a  case,  is  very  alarming.  Matthew  xviii,  6:  "But  whoso 
shall  off"end  one  of  these  little  ones  which  believe  in  me.  it  were 
better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck, 
and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea."  To  keep 
my  promise,  retain  my  own  justification,  if  possible,  recover 
my  backslidden  brother,  and  escape  the  condemnation  indicated 
by  Christ  in  the  foregoing  terrible  text,  were  all  matters  of 
vast  importance  to  me.  My  success  in  winning  my  brother 
back  again  to  Christ  was  wholly  of  the  Lord.  That  brother 
became  a  faithful  disciple,  and,  I  trust,  is  now  among  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  in  heaven. 

On  returning  to  Baltimore,  and  to  the  labors  of  the  tan-yard, 
I  resolved  on  renewed  efi"orts  to  improve  my  mind  ;  so  I  pro- 
cured such  books  as  were  recommended  by  my  elder  brethren. 
Shinn  on  the  Plan  of  Salvation,  Dr.  Reed's  Essays  on  the  Active 
and  Intellectual  Powers  of  Man,  Drew  on  the  Immateriality  and 
Immortality  of  the  Soul,  together  with  English  Grammar,  the 
Bible,  and  the  Commentaries,  were  my  constant  companions. 
Several  of  these  were  very  profound  works,  and  to  understand 
and  profit  by  them  required  very  close  application.  My  ad- 
vancement in  theological  and  mental  science  was  but  slow;  still, 
some  progress  was  made,  and  my  mind  became  gradually  inured 
to  hard  study.  To  acquire  every  kind  of  knowledge  which 
would  be  serviceable  to  me  in  the  Christian  ministry,  and  to 
enjoy  and  practice  vital  godliness,  were,  at  this  time,  the  great 
objects  of  my  life,  and  have  been,  in  the  main,  ever  since. 

During  the  summer  of  1814,  the  British  took  Washington, 
aad  burned  the  National  Capitol  and  all  the  public  buildings.    A 


70  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

little  after,  they  took  Alexandria,  and  on  the  12tli  of  September 
commenced  an  attack  on  Baltimore.  This  was  a  trying  emer- 
gency ;  martial  law  was  proclaimed,  and  all  the  citizens  put  un- 
der arms  to  defend  the  city.  I  was  called  out  of  the  tan-yard, 
and  away  from  my  books,  again  to  be  a  soldier.  Both  of  my 
brothers  went  into  service  at  the  same  time.  Our  army  was 
large,  and  well  protected  by  breastworks,  extending  from  the 
bay  about  three  miles  round,  on  the  east  of  the  city.  Our 
regiment  occupied  a  commanding  position  on  Federal  Hill. 
From  that  point  we  could  see  Fort  McHenry  and  the  British 
ships  of  war,  and  every  shot  from  each  side  during  the  conflict, 
which  lasted  about  forty  hours.  And  there,  too,  were  the  land 
forces  of  the  enemy  in  full  view,  across  the  valley,  on  a  hill 
about  two  miles  off.  They  did  not  dare  to  attack  us,  because 
of  our  superior  numbers.  On  the  second  night,  it  being  very 
dark  and  raining,  they  sent  six  barges  stealthily  round  to  the 
rear  of  the  city,  to  set  it  on  fire ;  but,  as  they  were  landing,  a 
little  fort  hastily  erected,  of  which  their  guide  knew  nothing, 
opened  on  them  a  destructive  fire,  and  it  is  not  certain  that  any 
of  them  escaped  to  tell  the  tale.  Then,  from  that  little  Spring- 
Grarden  Fort,  and  from  the  army  on  Federal  Hill,  and  from  Fort 
McHenry  there  was  prolonged  cheering.  This  was  the  final 
stroke,  and  ended  the  conflict.  I  had  labored  hard  five  days 
in  the  construction  of  that  little  fort,  and  felt  much  gratified, 
indeed,  in  its  efficiency  in  turning  the  tide  of  battle.  Immedi- 
ately after  the  failure  of  this  effort  to  burn  the  city,  and  thus 
confuse  the  army  on  the  hill,  all  hope  for  the  land  forces  of  the 
enemy  to  get  into  the  city  being  cut  off,  a  rocket  from  one  of 
the  ships  of  war,  of  a  peculiar  color,  sent  up  very  high  and 
sloping  off  down  the  bay,  indicated  a  retreat.  In  the  morning 
the  land  forces  were  all  gone,  and  the  ships  of  war  retired  a 
little  after  daylight.  General  Samuel  Smith  was  our  Com- 
mander-in-chief during  this  struggle ;  but  in  a  short  time.  Gen- 
eral Scott  took  command,  and  enjoyed  the  entire  confidence  of 
the  army  and  the  community. 

In  closing  this  little  sketch  of  war  matters  about  Baltimore, 
it  may  be  interesting  to  give  a  brief  account  of  a  soldier  who 


A    SOLDIER    CONDEMNED    TO    BE    SHOT.  71 

was  condemned  to  be  sliot.  The  crime,  as  I  was  informed,  was 
an  attempt  upon  the  life  of  an  officer ;  some  said  that  officer 
was  General  Scott  himself.  But  the  pistol,  deliberately  aimed, 
missed  fire;  the  man  was  arrested,  tried  by  a  court-martial,  and 
condemned  to  die.  The  day  of  execution  arrived.  The  place  was 
on  the  east  slope  of  Federal  Hill,  in  the  head  of  a  hollow.  As 
we  marched  out,  I  was  near  the  prisoner,  who  was  already  in  a 
white  shroud,  and  rode  in  a  cart.  A  stake  was  driven  into  the 
ground,  and  to  it  this  doomed  son  of  the  Emerald  Isle  was 
firmly  tied,with  a  white  cap  drawn  over  his  face.  Nearest  to  the 
culprit  were  the  soldiers,  all  around  the  head  of  the  hollow,  in 
amphitheatrical  form.  Next  to  them  were  the  people  from  the 
city  and  country — an  immense  multitude.  A  lane  was  then 
made,  along  which  to  fire.  Eight  soldiers  took  distance  twen- 
ty-five paces  above  the  criminal.  The  officer  in  command  or- 
dered them  to  "halt!  to  the  right  about — face."  Then  there 
was  a  pause,  as  if  waiting  for  something;  and  there  stood  the 
poor  condemned  soldier  in  a  perfect  shiver — every  nerve  in  him 
quaked.  Then  came  the  order,  "Make  ready,  take  aim" — and 
as  each  of  the  eight  soldiers  looked  along  his  piece,  I  felt  in 
;my  heart  an  unutterable  emotion ;  and  a  glance  at  the  multi- 
tude revealed  the  fact  that  all  were  deeply  moved.  Like  the 
gentle  clouds  melting  into  showers,  so  fell  the  tears  from  the 
eyes  of  that  great  assembly — if  ever  it  rained  tears,  then  was 
the  time — all  expecting  the  word  "  Fire  !  "  Just  at  that  painful 
moment  a  voice  was  heard,  and  all  eyes  were  turned  to  the  right. 
An  officer  in  full  uniform,  on  a  white  horse,  came  at  the  top  of 
his  speed,  with  an  open  paper  in  his  hand,  crying,  as  he  came, 
"A  reprieve!  a  reprieve!"  The  soldiers  on  duty  were  com- 
manded to  "  order  arms,"  and  the  tension  of  feeling  became 
somewhat  relaxed;  a  more  pleasant  emotion  followed.  Poor 
Pat  was  to  have  his  life  for  a  prey,  and  all  hearts  were  glad. 
The  officer  was  not  long  in  making  his  way  through  the  crowd. 
Some  one  informed  the  condemned  man  that  a  reprieve  had 
come ;  but  the  news  was  too  good ;  he  could  not  believe  it. 
There  he  stood,  trembling  as  badly  as  ever.  Finally,  the  officer 
with  the  reprieve  dismounted  by  his  side,  took  oflF  the  cap,  uu- 


72  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

tied  him,  and  read  his  reprieve.  Then  he  fell  down  on  the 
ground,  rolled  over  and  over  again,  blessed  the  Lord  and  Gen- 
eral Scott  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  (for  he  was  a  Catholic,)  and 
seemed  almost  as  if  he  would  die  of  joy.  On  this  case,  a  re- 
flection or  two  will  be  in  place:  First,  if  General  Scott's  par- 
don securing  natural  life,  when  made  known  by  proper  author- 
ity, did  produce  such  overwhelming  joy,  will  not  God's  pardon 
to  a  sinner,  who  repents  and  believes  in  Christ,  and  is  thereby 
saved  from  eternal  death,  when  it  is  made  known  to  the  heart 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  productive  of  more  abundant  joy?  Sec- 
ondly, as  that  condemned  soldier  was  in  a  safe  state  from  and 
after  the  time  that  his  reprieve  was  signed,  yet  as  he  knew  noth- 
ing of  it,  was  very  uncomfortable,  and  needed  to  have  the  fact 
of  his  reprieve  made  known  by  proper  authority,  in  order  to 
his  happiness ;  so,  in  my  opinion,  a  truly  penitent  sinner,  whose 
faith  in  Christ  is  very  weak,  may  be  in  a  safe  state,  and  yet  have 
little  or  no  comfort.  The  fact  of  forgiveness  must  be  witnessed 
to  the  heart  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  before  there  is  "all  joy  and 
peace  in  believing."  Thirdly,  as  that  soldier's  pardon  spread 
joy  through  the  immense  multitude,  then  and  there  assembled, 
so  will  the  pardon  of  a  truly  penitent  sinner,  who  hangs  his  all 
for  time  and  eternity  on  Christ,  by  faith,  give  joy  to  the  Chui'ch 
upon  earth,  and  spread  an  exulting  tide  of  joy  all  through 
heaven.  "Likewise  I  say  uuto  you,  that  joy  shall  be  in  heaven 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  more  than  over  ninety  and  nine 
just  persons  which  need  no  repentance." 

In  the  first  love-feast  which  I  ever  attended  in  Baltimore — a 
most  spiritual  and  interesting  meeting — I  found  much  to  en- 
courage and  strengthen  me.  It  occurred  shortly  after  the  great 
camp-meeting,  at  which  I  found  the  Saviour.  Not  only  was  I 
profited  by  what  I  heard  from  advanced  Christians,  male  and 
female,  and  from  young  converts,  but  at  times  I  was  very  much 
amused.  Many  allusions  were  made,  during  the  meeting,  to  the 
great  sermon  preached  by  brother  Shinn,  on  the  Sunday  morn- 
ing of  the  camp-meeting,  all  going  to  show  the  high  apprecia- 
tion of  the  spirituality  of  that  gi-eat  and  good  man's  Gospel 
labors.     One  elderly  lady,  of  very  fine  appearance,  a  German  fey 


FIKST   LOVE-FEAST   IN   BALTIMORE.  73 

descent,  in  broken  English,  said  many  fine  tilings  of  this  remark- 
able sermon.  Then,  in  something  of  an  ecstasy,  she  concluded 
by  adding,  that  ''  it  was  as  easy  to  tell  the  difference  between  a 
preacher  vat  preached  over  the  spirit,  from  one  vat  preached 
over  the  letter,  as  it  was  to  tell  the  difference  between  pone- 
bread  and  pound-cake."  My  own  heart  had  to  say  that  this 
witness  is  true.  Even  the  poor  and  uneducated  in  human  learn- 
ing, if  they  have  been  taught  in  the  school  of  Christ,  can 
easily  distinguish  a  sermon  full  of  the  marrow  and  fatness  of 
the  Grospel  from  one  filled  with  literary  quibbles  and  philosoph- 
ical speculations;  for  what  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat? 

I  sat  far  back  in  the  church,  and  just  in  front  of  me  there 
was  a  large  Irishman,  a  member  of  the  Church,  who,  at  times, 
was  very  much  excited.  Several  times  he  rose  to  speak ;  but, 
others  having  the  floor,  he  had  to  sit  down  again.  At  last  he 
got  a  chance,  and  spoke  in  about  the  following  manner :  "  The 
brethren,  in  their  wisdom,  have  ordained  that  I  should  come 
here  to-night  and  make  a  confession."  At  such  a  time  and 
place,  "  the  Lord  converted  my  soul,  and  for  awhile  I  was  ex- 
ceedingly happy;  but  occasionally  had  some  trials.  If  I  but 
took  a  glass  of  bitters  in  the  morning,  my  conscience  was  ill  at 
ease  about  it  all  the  day.  But  I  grew  in  grace  until  I  thought 
the  Lord  had  sanctified  my  soul.  I  got  so  far  on  that  I  could 
take  four  or  five  glasses  of  bitters  in  the  morning,  before  break- 
fast, and  go  on  my  way  rejoicing.  And  what  do  you  think, 
brethren  ?  The  other  day  a  man  hauled  me  home,  on  his  dray, 
from  the  wharf,  dead  drunk!  0,  my  brethren,  the  devil  had 
deceived  me  until  I  mistook  the  hardening  of  my  conscience  by 
crime  for  a  growth  in  grace.  Will  the  brethren  bear  with  me, 
and  pray  for  me  ?  and,  by  the  help  of  God,  I  '11  not  let  the  devil 
deceive  me  again."  This  man's  confession  was  made  in  a  droll 
way;  it  amused  me  very  much.  Is  it  not  possible  that  many 
Church  members  have,  like  this  Irish  brother,  been  deceived  by 
the  devil  until  they  have  mistaken  a  hardened  conscience  for 
entire  sanctification?  To  the  damning  sin  the  professor  holds 
fast  until  conscience  becomes  hardened,  and  chides  no  more ; 
then  on  he  goes,  as  he  supposes,  to  heaven,  when,  in  fact,  he 
5 


74  RECOLLECTIONS    OP   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

is  really  going  to  hell.  It  takes  afflictions  and  calamities,  along 
with  the  Spirit  and  truth  of  God,  to  wake  such  professors  from 
their  criminal  slumbers,  and  bring  them  back  to  Christ. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1814,  I  was  received  into  full 
membership  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  This  act  led 
to  a  new  consecration  of  myself  to  Christ  and  his  cause.  Al- 
most immediately  after  this,  in  the  old  Conference-room,  in  the 
rear  of  the  Light  Street  Church,  the  Quarterly  Conference 
granted  me  license  to  preach.  This  led  to  new  efforts  to  pro- 
pare  myself  for  the  work  before  me,  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord.  My  having  preached  for  some  time  without  license  was 
not  brought  before  the  Quarterly  Conference  as  an  objection 
against  me,  but  was  rather  urged  as  an  argument  in  my  favor, 
for  it  indicated  a  disposition  to  work,  and  they  wanted  men  who 
would  work.  From  this  time  to  the  end  of  the  year  I  labored 
with  the  rest  of  the  Baltimore  local  preachers.  We  kept  up 
appointments  to  the  distance  of  twenty  miles  in  the  country, 
all  around  Baltimore,  often  preaching  two  and  three  times  a 
day  on  Sunday,  and  returning  home  at  night  to  hear  preaching 
in  the  city.  These  local  preachers,  who  labored  so  extensively 
in  the  country,  had  never  been  itinerants.  They  worked  for 
nothing;  they  paid  at  livery  stables  the  hire  of  the  horses  they 
rode ;  they  paid  the  city  preachers.  They  were  a  noble-hearted 
set  of  men.  Never  shall  I  forget  James  Armstrong,  James  R. 
Williams,  Joseph  Shane,  and  several  others,  my  fellow-laborers, 
whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of  Life.  All  these  dear  brethren 
have  died  in  the  faith ;  all  my  old  classmates  have  passed  away 
to  the  heavenly  country ;  my  dear  brother  Edward,  who  was  a 
counselor,  helper,  and  friend  to  me,  in  the  days  of  my  spiritual 
childhood,  is  now  among  the  saved  in  heaven.  Old  age  has  at 
last  overtaken  me,  and  I  hope  soon  to  join  my  friends. 


MY   FIRST   ITINERANT    SERMON.  75 


CHAPTER  V. 

My  Fiest  Itinerant  Sermon— TriE  Negroes  Sleepino  in  Meeting— Mt  Design  in  goin<i 
ON  Anne  Akundel  Circuit— Jackson's  Victory— Peace  IIestored— The  General 
Jor— Not  being  Recommended  to  Conference,  I  Return  to  VVuuk  and  Study— Was 
Immediately  Called  to  Prince  George's  Circuit— The  Horse— The  Money— My 
Colleagues— The  Circuit— The  Bilious  Kever  and  its  Cause— Kind  Friends  who 
Cared  for  me  in  my  Afflictions— Chambersburg  Circuit— Mv  Colleagues — My 
Presiding  Elder— Carlisle  Circuit— My  Colleague— Much  Opposition— Success  in 
Gettysburg- The  Infidel  Converted — A  Marriage  Extraordinary— Stafford  Cik- 
cuit— My  Assistant- The  Various  Sects— The  Camp-Meeting— How  Methodists 
AT  that  day  Regarded  Slavery. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1815,  my  itinerant  life  commenced, 
on  Anne  Arundel  Circuit,  in  the  state  of  Maryland.  At  the 
call  of  Rev.  Daniel  Stansbury,  and  being  prompted  by  my 
brother  Edward,  I  left  the  tan-yard,  my  home,  and  Baltimore 
friends,  to  meet  brother  Stansbury,  at  eleven  o'clock  A.  M., 
on  New-Years  day,  to  travel  this  circuit  with  him,  until  the 
approaching  Conference  in  March.  But,  alas  for  me !  Stans- 
bury did  not  meet  me,  according  to  our  appointment.  So,  I 
had  to  preach  myself,  and  found  the  cross  most  uncomfortably 
heavy.  The  meeting  was  held  in  a  farm-house,  (name  forgot- 
ten,) in  a  large  room,  with  a  corner  chimney;  and  there  was  a 
very  large  fire,  made  of  hickory  wood  about  half  seasoned.  There 
was  an  excellent  turnout  of  the  young  people  of  the  neigh- 
borhood that  day,  for  the  sleighing  was  good,  and  the  house 
was  crowded.  I  stood  with  my  back  against  the  front  door, 
and,  over  to  my  right,  the  colored  people  stood  with  their  backs 
against  the  wall,  all  the  seats  being  occupied  by  the  white  ladies 
and  gentlemen.  With  much  fear  and  trembling,  the  services 
were  opened,  and,  after  singing  and  prayer,  the  text  was  read 
and  the  sermon  commenced.  In  a  little  time,  I  discovered  that 
the  young  people  of  that  assembly  were  all  very  much  amused, 


76  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

and  inclined  to  elbow  one  another,  and  to  titter,  in  a  suppressed 
■way,  all  over  tte  house.  This  produced  great  confusion  and 
embarrassment  in  my  mind,  for  I  supposed  they  were  laugh- 
ing at  my  awkwardness.  But,  a  glancing  of  their  eyes  toward 
the  colored  people  revealed  the  secret :  they  were  all  asleep 
as  they  stood  on  their  feet !  Coming  out  of  the  cold  into  that 
warm  room,  the  heat  of  the  young  hickory  fire  had  wilted  them 
down.  With  heads  hanging  over  their  breasts,  a  little  to  one 
side,  eyes  about  half  closed,  mouths  somewhat  open,  tongues  a 
little  protruded,  knees  going  apart,  ^nd  backs  scraping  against 
the  wall,  down  they  were  going,  lower  and  lower,  when  I  saw 
them.  In  a  moment,  these  sleepers,  as  if  by  concert,  all  started 
up  at  once,  and  blew,  as  if  a  little  scared.  Having  found  out 
the  cause  of  the  mirth  among  the  young  people,  my  embarrass- 
ment left  me,  and  I  proceeded  with  my  discourse,  but  had  not 
gone  far  before  all  looks  gave  indications  of  rising  mirth  again. 
That  time  all  the  colored  people  kept  awake  but  one.  He  was 
a  tall,  slender,  well-dressed  mulatto — a  waiting  man — standing 
against  the  door  that  opened  into  the  kitchen.  As  he  sunk 
down,  with  knees  parting,  eyes  half  closed,  tongue  a  little  out, 
his  hard  breathing  amounting  almost  to  a  snore,  all  eyes  were 
upon  him,  and  the  mirth  of  the  colored  people  was  at  least 
equal  to  that  of  the  whites.  He  went  down  so  low  that  I 
thought  he  certainly  would  come  to  the  floor.  Again  he 
straightened  up  and  blew,  and,  looking  wildly  around  the  room, 
he  seemed  to  brace  himself  for  a  more  determined  resistance 
against  sleep.  Then  the  smothered  titter  of  the  assembly  al- 
most reached  the  point  of  open  1-aughter.  So  far,  I  had  main- 
tained my  gravity,  but  felt  afraid  to  reprove,  as  I  was  a  young 
man;  so  I  went  on  with  my  sermon  as  soon  as  quiet  was  restored. 
But  the  hot  hickory  fire  wilted  down  the  yellow  waiter  a  third 
time.  With  all  the  evidences  of  sleep  on  him  that  he  had  be- 
fore, he  sunk  down  quite  to  his  "hunkers,"  and  the  snore  was 
heavy.  We  all  looked  for  him  to  fall  right  out  on  the  floor; 
but  he  caught  himself  going,  and  sprang  until  his  head  went 
nearly  to  the  ceiling,  and,  coming  down,  he  whistled  like  an 
old  buck.     Finding  what  he  had  done,  he  opened  the  door  into 


Jackson's  victory.  77 

tTie  kitchen,  and  away  lie  went,  leaving  the  whole  assembly  con- 
vulsed with  laughter.  This  time  I  lost  my,  gravity,  and  joined 
in  the  laughter  with  the  rest.  This  ludicrous  occurrence  took 
place  during  the  preaching  of  my  first  itinerant  sermon.  I 
have  never  seen  the  like  since,  and  hope  I  shall  never  see  the 
like  again.  Why  did  I  not  restrain  myself?  Why  did  I  not 
admonish  the  people?  Alas  for  me!  at  that  time  I  had  not  the 
nerve  to  do  either.  After  a  little  time  to  collect  my  thoughts, 
this  much-disturbed  congregation  gave  me  a  patient  and  re- 
spectful hearing  to  the  end  of  my  discourse,  which  I  deemed 
prudent  to  close  with  all  convenient  dispatch. 

Revs.  James  Reed  and  Daniel  Stansbury  were  colleagues  on 
Anne  Arundel  Circuit.  Stansbury  came  that  night ;  and  until 
the  1st  of  March  I  traveled  with  him,  in  view  of  gaining  all 
the  information  I  could  in  relation  to  itinerant  life,  its  sacrifices 
and  duties.  Perhaps  I  did  more  than  my  share  of  the  preach- 
ing and  meeting  of  classes,  but  did  not  complain,  as  I  was  un- 
der pledge,  from  the  outset,  always  to  bear  the  cross  whenever 
my  elder  brethren  laid  it  upon  me.  Above  all  other  things,  I 
felt  at  that  time  a  most  intense  desire  to  be  useful  to  the  souls 
of  my  fellow-creatures,  to  build  up  the  Church,  and  to  glorify 
Christ.  I  felt  that  this  was  my  calling,  and  that  to  walk  worthy 
of  such  a  high  calling  did  require  the  utmost  circumspection 
and  prayer.  Brother  Stansbury  was  neither  methodical  nor 
powerful  in  his  pulpit  efi'orts ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  great  zeal 
in  all  his  exercises,  and  had  considerable  success  in  his  minis- 
try. He  had  great  faith — was  powerful  in  prayer.  The  longer 
I  was  with  him,  the  more  I  loved  him,  for  he  was  of  an  excel- 
lent spirit.  In  him  I  learned  to  understand  how  it  is  that  weak  i 
preachers  often  do  the  most  good.  Being  more  faithful  and 
holy  than  men  of  stronger  talents,  and  more  diligent  in  attend- 
ing to  all  parts  of  the  work  assigned  them,  God  gives  them 
more  abundant  success  than  he  will  to  the  man  of  great  talents, 
who  preaches  his  great  sermons  and  then  neglects  all  the  other 
duties  of  his  charge. 

While  on  Anne  Arundel  Circuit,  the  news  came  of  General 
Jackson's  victory  over  the  British  at  New  Orleans.     Then,  too, 


78  RECOLLECTIONS    OF  ITINERANT    LIFE. 

came  the  news  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain.  These  tw^  important  events  filled  our  entire  country 
with  great  joy,  and  were,  every-where  among  the  Churches,  cel- 
ebrated with  appropriate  thanksgivings  to  Grod.  At  last,  Con- 
ference came.  Not  being  recommended  to  that  body  for  em- 
ployment, I  went  home  to  l^altimore,  intending,  if  spared,  to 
work  and  study  another  year  in  the  tan-yard.  But,  on  the  rise 
of  the  Conference,  Bev.  Enoch  George,  Presiding  Elder,  sent 
Rev.  Joshua  Wells  after  me,  to  supply  a  vacancy  on  Prince 
George's  Circuit.  After  consulting  my  brother  and  a  few  other 
friends,  I  determined  to  respond  favorably  to  this  call.  The 
first  thing  was  to  secure  a  good  horse.  One  was  immediately 
purchased  by  my  brother  Edward,  and  presented  to  me.  "  Now," 
said  he,  "  you  will  need  a  little  money  in  the  outset,  until  you 
can  get  to  your  circuit,  and  be  entitled  to  pay.  This  horse  can 
earn  you  all  the  money  you  need,  in  about  two  weeks.  '  So,  a 
cart  was  hired  of  one  of  the  neighbors,  at  twenty-five  cents  per 
day,  and  a  young  man  to  drive  it,  at  fifty  cents  per  day ;  and  for 
about  two  weeks,  while  my  other  preparations  were  being  made, 
that  young  man,  with  the  horse  and  cart,  finding  constant  em- 
ployment on  the  wharf,  earned  me  from  two  to  four  dollars  per 
day,  clear  of  all  expenses.  Finally,  the  day  arrived  for  me  to 
be  ofi^  to  my  circuit.  To  leave  Baltimore,  where  I  had  so  many 
kind  Christian  friends,  and  go  out  among  strangers,  was,  to  me, 
a  trial  of  considerable  magnitude.  On  the  morning  before  I 
left  home,  I  paid  short  visits  to  such  friends  as  were  near  at 
hand,  to  bid  them  fai'ewell.  To  me  it  was  a  tender  time  ;  I  could 
not  restrain  my  tears.  The  last  one  I  visited  was  sister  Mitch- 
ell, a  real  mother  in  Israel.  She  had  often  said  to  me,  that,  un- 
less I  changed  my  vehement  and  vociferous'  manner,  my  life 
would  be  the  forfeit.  That  morning,  she  took  my  hand,  at  part- 
ing, and  holding  it  firmly,  she  said :  "  Brother  George,  before 
you  go,  I  want  to  give  you  a  bit  of  advice.  Will  you  take  it?" 
"Well,  sister  Mitchell,"  said  I,  "what  is  it?  I  '11  take  it  if  I 
can."  Holding  my  hand  with  a  still  firmer  grasp,  she  said : 
"  But  you  must  take  it,  and  I  want  you  to  promise  me  now, 
before  we  part,  that  you  will  take  it."     "  Well,"  said  I,  "  do 


CALLED    TO    PRIXCE    GEORGE's   CIRCUIT.  79 

tell  me,  if  you  please,  wliat  it  is,  and  I  '11  take  it  if  I  can." 
"Now,"  said  she,  "mind  what  I  say:  when  you  get  out  to 
preaching  on  a  circuit,  meeting  the  classes,  and  laboring  in  the 
prayer-meetings,  take  very  good  care  of  yourself,  and  do  n't 
burst  your  gall."  At  this  droll  advice  I  felt  a  little  amused, 
but  promised  compliance,  and  took  my  leave  of  this  plain- 
spoken  Christian  lady.  The  advice  had  much  meaning  in  it. 
Solid  sense,  sound  piety,  and  a  less  vehement  and  vociferous 
manner  would  save  the  "gall,"  and  the  life  too,  of  many  a  poor 
Methodist  preacher. 

That  morning  I  left  the  house  of  my  beloved  brother  Ed- 
ward, for  the  itinerant  field.  He  and  his  excellent  wife  and  all 
the  children,  with  warm  hearts,  wished  me  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness in  my  new  and  important  undertaking ;  so  did  many  of 
my  Christian  friends,  and  others,  as  I  passed  up  Baltimore 
Street.  It  was  a  time  of  many  tears  with  me — parting  with 
those  I  loved  so  well,  and'  with  whom  my  earliest  religious  asso- 
ciations were  formed.  That  day,  in  attempting  to  ride  a  branch 
of  the  Patuxeut  River,  finding  it  rather  deep,  I  halted  to  let 
my  horse  drink,  and  while  I  was  looking  across,  and  up  and 
down  the  river,  to  see  if  there  was  a  ferry-boat,  my  horse,  be- 
ing warm  with  travel,  laid  down  in  the  water,  and  the  current 
swept  clear  over  him,  wetting  me  up  to  my  waist.  I  got  him 
up,  and  crossed  in  a  boat;  and,  disagreeably  wet  as  I  was,  held 
on  my  way  until  I  reached  Bladensburg,  in  the  evening.  By 
that  time  my  clothes  had  dried  on  me,  and  being  called  into 
service  by  some  warm-hearted  Methodists,  I  preached  that  night 
with  more  than  usual  liberty.  The  next  day  I  found  myself 
within  the  bounds  of  Prince  George's  Circuit,  and  at  the  quar- 
terly-meeting on  Saturday  was  introduced  to  my  two  colleagues, 
Revs.  Thomas  C.  Thornton,  preacher  in  charge,  and  John 
Childs,  assistant,  and,  by  their  joint  request,  I  tried  to  preach 
the  opening  sermon.  The  cross  was  exceedingly  heavy  as  I  ap- 
proached it;  but  when  the  first  prayer  was  over,  I  found  the 
fear  of  man,  that  always  bringeth  a  snare,  had  left  me.  I  could 
not  believe  that  where  there  was  so  much  fervent  prayer,  there 
could  be  much  captious  criticism ;  so,  with  the  Master's  help,  I 


80  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE 

had  great  liberty  in  preacliing,  and  there  was  a  heavenly  state 
of  religious  feeling  among  the  people. 

Prince  George's  Circuit  lay  between  the  Chesapeake  and  the 
Potomac  Rivers,  and  extended  from  Washington  City  and  Bla- 
deusburg  to  Point  Lookout.  We  had  preaching  in  a  farm- 
house on  the  Point,  in  full  view  of  the  junction  of  the  two 
rivers ;  I  suppose  near  the  place  where  the  United  States  Hos- 
pital now  stands.  Ours  was  a  six-weeks'  circuit,  and  we  three 
followed  each  other  at  the  distance  of  two  weeks,  going  down 
on  the  Potomac  ^ide,  and  coming  up  on  the  Chesapeake  side ; 
and  it  was  said  by  my  colleagues  that  our  traveling  would  be 
so  zigzag  in  its  character,  that  each  of  us,  to  complete  one 
round,  would  have  to  travel  six  hundred  miles,  or  about  one 
hundred  miles  a  week.  We  had  several  small  towns  in  our  cir- 
cuit, such  as  Upper  Marlboro,  Port  Tobacco,  Leonardstown, 
etc.,  but  at  that  time  we  had  not  planted  Methodism  in  them. 
The  Roman  Catholic  and  ProtestanC  Episcopalian  were  the  lead- 
ing denominations ;  and  it  would  have  been  hard  to  tell  which 
was  the  greater,  their  bigoted  attachment  to  their  own  respective 
parties,  or  their  determined  opposition  to  the  Methodists.  Com- 
mon sinners  and  open  infidels  drank  in  the  spirit  of  these 
Churches;  so,  Methodism  had  the  honor  to  be  persecuted  on 
all  sides.  Under  these,  and  all  other  kinds  of  disadvantages, 
^evangelical  piety,  as  maintained  by  the  Methodists,  gained  con- 
siderable growth  that  year.  In  general,  our  people  were  poor, 
and  a  great  portion  of  the  country  was  poor,  sandy,  and  worn- 
out,  producing  but  little  for  the  subsistence  of  man  or  beast. 
As  for  myself,  I  always  fared  very  well,  for  they  had  plenty  of 
fish,  oysters,  and  fowls,  brought  from  the  rivers  and  creeks,  to 
supply  my  wants.  These,  with  a  little  corn-bread  and  a  cup  of 
tea,  which  they  generally  had,  did  well  enough  for  me  while 
among  the  humble  poor ;  indeed,  they  seemed  to  be  real  luxu- 
ries, because  they  came  with  such  a  good-will.  But  I  often 
pitied  my  horse,  for  he  could  not  live  on  what  they  were  ac- 
customed to  give  their  little  sandy-ground  ponies.  I  have  often 
been  asked  by  the  servant,  when  I  arrived  at  my  appointment, 
which  I  would  have  for  my  horse — "two  bundles  of  blades  now, 


THE   BILIOUS    FEVER   AND   ITS   CAUSE.  81 

and  six  ears  of  corn  at  night;  or  six  ears  of  corn  now,  and  two 
bundles  of  blades  at  night?"  "Well,"  I  would  say,  "you  see 
my  horse  is  large;  let  him  cool  a  little,  and  then  give  him  the 
two  bundles  of  blades  and  six  ears  of  corn  all  now,  and  then, 
when  night  comes,  we'll  see  if  he  wants  any  more."  When 
night  came,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  servant,  my  horse  always 
wanted  at  least  as  much  more !  But  there  were  parts  of  the 
circuit  where  the  land  was  better,  and  produced  an  abundance. 
There  we  had  a  compensation  for  what  we  suffered  in  poorer 
districts ;  but  the  rich  members  could  not  possibly  be  more  free 
with  what  they  had  than  were  the  poor,  nor  were  they  more 
pious.  Taken  altogether,  these  persecuted  Methodists  on  Prince 
George's  Circuit  were  an  exemplary  community  of  Christians. 
They  lived  like  lambs  among  wolves,  were  wise  as  serpents,  and 
harmless  as  doves. 

On  this  circuit  I  had  a  sore  spell  of  bilious  fever.  As  I 
came  up  on  my  first  round,  T.  C.  Thornton  met  me,  and  pro- 
posed a  change  :  he  would  fill  my  appointments  up  toward  Wash- 
ington City,  and  that  would  give  him  a  chance  to  get  mar- 
ried, the  following  week,  in  the  city,  and  I  must  turn  back  and 
fill  his  appointments  down  the  country.  Well,  to  oblige  my 
superior,  I  agreed  to  the  change.  But  in  this  change  there  was 
a  double  wrong — one  to  me,  and  the  other  to  the  circuit.  I 
was  thrown  back,  and  kept  too  long  in  the  lowlands,  where  I 
took  the  bilious  fever,  which  held  me  about  two  weeks,  and 
then  tapered  off  with  eleven  weeks  of  ague  and  fever — a  sad 
injury  to  me.  Meantime,  Thornton  utterly  failed  to  fill  my 
appointments  according  to  agreement.  So,  the  circuit  was  in- 
jured. The  circuit,  or  rather  the  upper  end  of'  it,  did  not 
recover  from  this  injury  to  the  end  of  the  year;  and  my  con- 
stitution was  so  shaken  and  predisposed  to  disease,  that  the  ague 
and  fever  returned  on  me  for  three  summers  in  succession.  I 
shall  always  have  cause  to  remember  brother  Thbrnton's  mar- 
riage, and  the  injury  resulting  to  myself  and  the  circuit. 

It  will  be  proper,  in  thi^  place,  to  record  my  gratitude  to 
several  kind  friends.  At  the  house  of  Miss  Betty  Gant,  during 
the  first  two  weeks  of  illness,  I  received  all  necessary  attention 


82  EECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

and  care  from  that  excellent  Christian  lady  and  those  of  her 
household.  Being  much  concerned  about  the  work  assigned 
me,  I  went  out  to  my  field  of  labor  too  soon,  and  took  a  re- 
lapse. I  was  then  taken  to  the  house  of  brother  James  Friend, 
where  he  and  his  amiable  wife  had  me  well  cared  for  durinsr 
several  weeks.  They  lived  at  the  Navy-yard  in  Washington 
City,  and  I  regarded  them  as  true  disciples  of  our  Lord.  But 
my  recovery  was  slow  at  that  place,  and  Rev.  William  McKin- 
ney,  by  consent  of  brother  and  sister.  Friend,  took  me  to  his  res- 
idence in  Georgetown.  There  I  was  on  higher  ground,  had 
purer  air,  and  my  recovery  was  more  rapid.  Never  shall  I  for- 
get the  kind  attentions  of  brother  McKinney  and  his  good  wife. 
But  not  until  late  in  the  fall  was  I  able  to  resume  my  labors 
on  the  circuit.  In  all  my  sickness  I  had  good  doctors,  good 
nurses,  kind  friends,  and  a  merciful  God  to  help  me,  in  every 
time  of  need.  That  long  ajffliction  did  me  a  real  spiritual  good. 
God  meant  all  that  I  sufi"ered  in  body,  for  the  good  of  my  soul. 
How  often  does  our  Heavenly  Father  find  it  necessary  to  teach 
poor,  frail  mortals  a  lesson  of  humility  and  resignation  on  a  bed 
of  affliction,  which  they  were  utterly  unwilling  to  learn  any- 
where else !  How  often  has  it  been  good  for  me  that  I  have 
been  afflicted !  During  the  year,  Enoch  George,  my  Presiding 
Elder,  acted  the  part  of  a  father  to  me,  and  both  my  colleagues 
were  kind.  I  loved  them,  and  easily  forgave  the  wrong  done 
me  by  brother  Thornton,  in  keeping  me  too  long  in  the  sickly 
region,  where  I  took  the  fever. 

Conference  met  in  March,  1816,  in  Georgetown,  D.  C,  at 
which  time  I  was  received  into  the  traveling  connection,  and  ap- 
pointed to  Chambersburg  Circuit.  Bev.  Bobert  Wilson  was 
preacher  in  charge.  He  was  an  able  minister,  a  pious  Christian 
gentleman,  a  real  friend  to  me,  and  very  useful  in  his  laborious 
efforts  to  build  up  the  Church.  At  the  end  of  six  months  he 
was  released,  in  consequence  of  feeble  health,  and  Bev.  John 
W.  Bond,  who  had  been  the  traveling  companion  of  Bishop  As- 
bury,  was  appointed  in  his  place.  Bond  was  a  man  of  fine  tal- 
ents, ardent  piety,  and  was  untiring  in  his  labors.  To  me  he 
was  very  kind,  and  we  often  took  sweet  counsel  together.     Our 


MY   PRESIDING    ELDER.  83 

circuit  extended  from  near  Harper's  Ferry,  up  the  valley,  on 
the  Maryland  side  of  the  Potomac,  into  Pennsylvania,  a  little 
beyond  Chambersburg,  and  included  a  number  of  towns,  such  as 
Sharpsburg,  Williamsport,  Chambersburg,  Hagerstown,  Green- 
castle,  Mercorsburg,  etc.  Among  the  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians in  that  region,  the  Methodists  were,  at  that  time,  just 
beginning  to  gain  a  prominent  standing.  The  Lutherans  and 
Presbyterians  looked  upon  thc-m  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  would 
have  kept  them  down  if  they  could.  Those  who  joined  the 
Methodists  from  among  those  bodies  generally  had  to  suffer 
persecution.  That  year  we  had  a  most  fruitful  camp-meeting, 
and  the  revival  which  commenced  at  that  meeting  extended  to 
nearly  all  the  appointments  on  the  circuit.  There  were  large 
accessions  to  the  Church  in  Chambersburg,  Hagerstown,  Wil- 
liamsport, and  several  other  places,  and  the  work  went  on  to 
the  end  of  the  Conference  year.  Rev.  Jacob  Gruber  was  our 
Presiding  Elder.  He  was  a  man  of  great  physical  energy,  good 
mental  powers,  pretty  well  cultivated,  and  a  most  ready  and 
powerful  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  Never  did  I  know  a  greater 
wit,  a  more  eccentric  minister,  or  one  more  laborious  in  his  ef- 
forts to  get  sinners  converted  and  to  build  up  the  Church  of 
Christ.  At  camp-meetings  he  was  a  real  general,  ably  marshal- 
ing all  his  forces.  Sometimes  he  remained  in  the  altar,  super- 
intending the  work,  the  entire  night,  always  requiring  the  pres- 
ence and  help  of  his  preachers.  It  was  a  rule  with  him  never 
to  permit  a  gun  to  be  fired  from  the  stand,  at  the  great  con- 
gregation, that  would  not  go  ofi"  in  the  altar,  among  the  mourn- 
ers. Revivals  followed  Gruber  wherever  he  went.  He  had 
many  warm  friends  and  some  bitter  enemies.  My  colleague, 
brother  Bond,  had  not  the  eccentric  genius  of  Gruber,  nor  had 
he  his  ability  to  manage  the  multitude  on  great  occasions;  but 
he  was  his  equal  in  zeal  and  perseverance  in  the  great  work  of 
saving  souls.  These  men  had  great  influence  with  me  in  mold- 
ing my  character  and  habits  as  a  preacher.  Who  could  look 
upon  the  untiring  diligence  and  faithfulness  of  Gruber  and 
Bond,  and  not  feel  in  his  soul  that  a  ministerial  drone  was  a 
real  nuisance   in  the  Church  of  the  Lord?     My  year  closed 


84  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

pleasantly  and  profitably  on  Ctambersburg  Circuit.  I  had  many 
friends,  and  if  I  had  any  enemies,  I  did  not  know  it.  That 
year  was  a  season  of  mercy  and  peace  to  me,  and  to  the 
Churches  on  that  circuit. 

In  March,  1817,  I  received  an  appointment  in  Baltimore  to 
Carlisle  Circuit,  in  Pennsylvania.  Rev.  Richard  Tydings  was 
the  preacher  in  charge,  and  Gruber  the  Presiding  Elder.  The 
circuit  lay  in  the  Cumberland  Valley  mainly.  It  included 
Carlisle,  Shippinsburg,  Gettysburg,  York,  and  sundry  other 
towns  of  smaller  note.  It  extended  over  to  the  Susquehanna 
River  at  Harrisburg,  and  was  quite  a  large  and  laborious  cir- 
cuit to  travel.  In  the  bounds  of  this  circuit  we  found  all  the 
various  denominations  of  Christians,  and  none  of  them,  save  the 
United  Brethren,  seemed  to  have  any  friendship  for  the  Meth- 
odists. At  that  day,  Methodist  preachers  were  held  up  to  pub- 
lic scorn,  by  many  of  the  clergy,  as  the  deceivers  that  should 
come  in  the  latter  days ;  as  preaching  false  doctrine,  to  lead 
astray,  if  it  were  possible,  even  the  very  elect.  He  who  joined 
the  Methodists  from  any  of  the  older  denominations  in  that 
region,  had  to  make  up  his  mind  to  bear  a  heavy  cross  and 
suffer  much  persecution. 

Nothing  daunted  by  the  opposition  and  bigotry  to  be  met 
with  in  that  district  of  country,  Tydings  and  I  entered  upon 
the  labors  of  the  year  on  Carlisle  Circuit.  We  both  preached 
the  full  and  free  salvation  of  the  Gospel,  and  tried  to  live  as 
we  preached.  God,  in  mercy,  opened  our  way,  and  gave  us 
access  to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  in  almost  all  parts  of 
the  circuit  there  was  a  revival  of  religion  that  year.  Many 
sinners  were  converted  to  God,  the  Churches  were  edified,  and 
the  borders  of  Zion  considerably  enlarged.  That  year  we  es- 
tablished a  Church  in  Gettysburg,  under  rather  trying  circum- 
stances. The  previous  year  a  trial  had  been  made,  but  failed. 
The  man  who  entertained  the  preachers,  being  poor,  would  do 
it  no  longer.  So,  Tydings  and  I,  after  consultation,  determined 
upon  trying  Gettysburg  another  year,  and  that  we  would  pay 
our  own  way  at  Gilbert's  tavern.  Our  preaching  was  in  the 
court-house,  on  Sunday  evenings.     We  had  to  preach  twice  in 


THE   INFIDEL   CONVERTED.  85 

the  daytime,  and  ride  eighteen  miles;  then  our  third  sermon 
was  in  Gettysburg,  at  night.  God  at  last  gave  us  favor  among 
the  people.  The  court-house  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  ca- 
pacity, andjSa  glorious  revival  of  religion  followed.  Ever  since 
that  year  there  have  been  plenty  of  comfortable  houses  for 
itinerant  preachers  in  that  place,  recently  made  so  famous  by 
what  will  be  known  in  history  as  the  great  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
where  the  rebel  army,  under  General  Lee,  was  defeated  by  the 
loyal  army,  under  General  Meade. 

While  this  interesting  revival  was  in  progress,  a  Jewess — • 
whose  husband,  a  merchant,  was  a  confirmed  infidel,  and  had  not 
been  at  any  place  of  public  worship  for  thirteeen  years — became 
a  convert  to  Christianity  and  joined  the  Church.  Her  whole 
heart  was  deeply  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  she  had 
also  a  very  tender  concern  for  the  salvation  of  her  husband, 
and  expressed  to  me  a  desire  that  I  would  pay  them  a  visit, 
and  converse  with  him,  and  try  to  win  him  over  to  Chris- 
tianity. At  the  same  time,  she  cautioned  me  not  to  be  offended 
at  any  treatment  I  might  receive  from  him,  for  she  could  not 
exactly  tell  how  he  might  act  toward  me,  for  he  was  not  very 
well  pleased  with  her  joining  the  Church.  I  was  just  about 
leaving  town,  but  concluded  to  visit  him  before  I  would  go. 
When  I  went  into  his  store,  and  was  introduced  to  him  by  his 
wife,  he  immediately  entered  upon  a  tirade  against  Christianity, 
alleging  that  the  whole  system  was  a  congeries  of  absurdities, 
utterly  incapable  of  proof,  and  unworthy  of  belief  by  men  of 
reason.  He  then  produced  one  of  his  infidel  books,  written  by 
a  man  whose  name  was  Monday,  and  pronounced  it  unanswer- 
able. Having  never  seen  the  book  before,  and  not  having  time 
then  to  enter  into  argument,  I  proposed  to  him  that  I  would 
take  his  book  and  read  it  carefully,  and  prepare  myself  to  an- 
swer all  Monday's  strong  points  when  I  came  back,  in  four 
weeks,  provided  he  would  take  a  book — Simpson's  Plea — which 
I  had  with  me,  and  prepare  himself,  against  my  return,  to  an- 
swer David  Simpson's  Plea  for  the  Christian  Religion.  To 
this  he  agreed,  with  an  air  of  confidence  that  he  would  be  able 
to  answer  Simpson,  or  any  other  book  written  in  defense  of 


86  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

Christianity.  So  we  parted  for  tliat  time.  In  four  weeks  I  re- 
turned, having  done  my  best  to  be  ready  to  answer  all  the  slip- 
pery, serpentine  sophism  of  Monday.  When  I  entered  the 
store,  I  found  the  infidel  store-keeper  lying  on  .%e  counter, 
reading  Simpson.  On  seeing  me,  he  said,  with  tears  in  his  eyes: 
"You  need  not  trouble  yourself  to  answer  Monday;  Simpson 
has  answered  me  and  Monday,  too.  I  give  the  matter  up. 
Christianity  is  true,  and  I  have  myself  been  deceived  nearly 
all  my  life."  Whether  this  man,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten, 
ever  joined  the  Church  or  not,  I  can  not  say,  for  I  was  then 
leaving  the  circuit.  This  was  a  victory  gained  for  the  Lord  by 
means  of  a  book.  0  how  important  it  is  for  Methodist  preach- 
ers, wherever  they  go,  to  have  on  hand  a  good  supply  of  the 
right  kind  of  books!  What  could  I,  a  mere  stripling,  have 
done  with  such  a  man  as  that  without  the  aid  of  Simpson's 
Plea?  I  think  I  could  have  answered  Monday;  but,  perhaps, 
not  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  infidel.  It  was  the  Lord  who 
made  use  of  Simpson's  Plea  to  convert  that  sagacious  unbeliever 
to  the  Christian  faith. 

During  the  year  spent  with  my  excellent  colleague,  PJchard 
Tydings,  on  Carlisle  Circuit,  many  cases  of  the  conversion  of 
very  hardened  sinners  occurred.  We  were  called  to  preach  at 
a  new  place,  about  six  miles  west  of  Gettysburg.  A  wealthy 
sinner,  an  oppressor  of  the  poor,  a  noted  money-shaver,  one 
whose  lust  had  done  much  mischief  in  the  community,  was  pow- 
erfully awakened  under  the  preaching  of  my  colleague.  His 
distress  was  great  and  of  long  continuance.  He  had  a  large 
family,  and  most  of  the  members  of  it  were  under  concern  for 
their  souls.  This  Zaccheus  had  restitution  to  make,  and  he 
could  not  be  saved  until  he  came  under  a  pledge  to  the  Lord  to 
make  it.  He  invited  preaching  to  his  house ;  and  after  brother 
Tydings  had  delivered  a  faithful  discourse,  he  stood  up  in  the 
congregation  and  declared  his  determination  to  lead  a  new  life, 
and  to  undo,  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability,  all  the  evils  of  his 
past  life.  "I  have  raised  a  large  family  of  children,"  he  said; 
"but  the  mother  of  these  children  is  not  my  wife — we  have 
never  been  married."     This  piece  of  information  was  astound- 


STAFFORD    CIRCUIT.  87 

ing  to  all  present ;  even  the  children  knew  nothing  of  the  fact. 
He  then  and  there  proposed  being  married  to  the  mother  of  his 
children,  for  he  felt  that  the  first  reparation  of  wrong  must  be 
made  at  hor^e.  The  father  and  mother  then  stood  up  before 
their  children,  and,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  assembly,  were 
duly  married  by  my  colleague.  This  being  done,  the  whole 
family  were  baptized  and  received  into  the  Church  as  probation- 
ary members.  Such  cases  as  the  above  clearly  demonstrate  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  to  save  the  chief  of  sinners.  Richard 
Tydings  is  still  a  sojourner  among  men.  He  resides  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  should  he  ever  see  this  notice,  would,  undoubtedly, 
give  corroborating  testimony  to  the  material  facts  in  this  and 
all  the  other  cases  referred  to  in  relation  to  our  joint  labors  on 
Carlisle  Circuit. 

At  the  Conference  in  March,  1818,  I  was  appointed  to  Staf- 
ford Circuit,  in  Eastern  Virginia.  This  year,  having  been  or- 
dained a  deacon,  I  whs  placed  in  charge,  and  E,iichard  McAllis- 
ter, my  assistant.  He  was  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth — a  very 
interesting  young  man,  of  good  natural  talents,  considerable 
mental  cultivation,  ardent  piety,  and  fine  preaching  abilities. 
In  the  outset  of  his  religious  career,  he  had  sufi"ered  banishment 
from  his  father's  house,  on  account  of  having  joined  the  Meth- 
odists. This  act  of  his  life,  in  the  estimation  of  his  father — 
who  was  a  man  of  great  wealth,  pride,  and  bigoted  attachment 
to  a  difi"erent  creed — had  degraded  him  so  low  that  one  house 
could  no  longer  hold  them  both.  Richard  had  to  go  into  ban- 
ishment. Thus  sternly  driven  from  home,  he  went  to  Baltimore, 
and  there  I  became  acquainted  with  him.  He  seemed  to  have 
in  him  the  spirit  of  a  martyr,  and  to  be  ready  to  surrender  his 
life  rather  than  abandon  his  Methodistical  views  of  Christianity. 
He  was,  however,  in  a  short  time  recalled,  and  became  the 
means,  under  Grod,  of  the  conversion  of  both  his  parents,  and 
entered  the  itinerant  field  with  the  full  consent  of  both  father 
and  mother,  who,  on  being  converted  to  God,  did  themselves 
join  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  gloried  in  having  a 
Bon  in  the  ministry  among  that  once-despised  people. 

Our  circuit  lay  between  the  Potomac  and  the  Pvappahannock 


88  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITES'ERANT   LIFE. 

Rivers,  and  included  the  counties  of  Fauquier,  Prince  William, 
Stafford,  and  parts  of  King  George  and  Culpepper,  where,  of 
late,  the  mustering  hosts  of  loyalty  and  rebellion  have  often 
met  in  deadly  conflict.  In  this  district  of  country,  the  Meth- 
odists, though  equal  in  standing  and  numbers  to  any  single 
denomination  of  Christians,  were,  nevertheless,  still  "  the  sect 
every-where  spoken  against."  Infidels  despised  them  because 
they  were  witnesses  against  infidelity ;  that  it  loved  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  its  works  were  evil.  Proud,  High- 
Church  Episcopalians,  who  rested  in  the  outward  form  of  godli- 
ness, and  denied  the  power  thereof,  despised  them,  because,  in 
addition  to  the  form,  they  taught  mankind  a  powerful  spiritual 
religion,  coming  home  to  the  heart  and  saving  the  soul.  The 
Baptists,  in  that  day  real  Antinomians,  despised  them,  because 
they  insisted  on  good  works  as  evidence  of  saving  faith — held  to 
infant  baptism — that  sprinkling  and  pouring,  in  baptism,  were 
equally  as  good  as  immersion — that  the  whole  world  stood  re- 
deemed unto  God  by  the  death  of  Christ — and  that  as  certainly 
as  angels  and  our  first  parents  fell  from  the  Divine  favor,  so 
certainly  might  true  believers  fall  from  grace.  The  Roman 
Catholics,  drunkards,  profane  swearers.  Sabbath-breakers,  and 
all  classes  of  sinners,  all  seemed  to  have  their  reasons,  such  as 
they  were,  for  despising  the  Methodists.  In  that  day,  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  fraternal  intercourse  between  ministers  of  other 
denominations  and  Methodist  preachers,  as  there  is  now.  To 
have  helped  us  at  our  meetings  would  have  been,  in  their  vi.ew 
of  the  matter,  to  have  made  themselves  common  or  unclean. 
But  Richard  and  I,  both  of  us  young  men,  each  having  much 
to  learn,  had  a  good,  sturdy-souled  membership  in  the  Church 
to  shout  us  on.  We  studied  the  questions  at  issue  between  the 
Methodists  and  all  other  parties  well.  We  deemed  self-defense 
always  in  order;  and  taking  on  us  the  whole  armor  of  the  Lord, 
as  fully  as  such  young  men  could,  we  went  forth  to  the  conflict, 
in  the  name  of  Him  who  came  into  the  world  to  destroy  the 
■works  of  the  devil ;  and  the  Lord  working  with  us  and  confirm- 
ing the  word  of  His  grace,  we  had  a  good  degree  of  success. 
Many  sinners  were  born  again  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  borders 


HOW   METHODISTS   REGARDED    SLAVERY.  89 

of  Zion  were  considerably  enlarged.  It  was  a  year  of  revival 
pretty  much  throughout  the  circuit.  No  man  ever  had  a  more 
agi-eeable  or  trustworthy  colleague  than  I  had  that  year.  Rich- 
ard and  I  were  like  David  and  Jonathan — of  one  heart  and 
mind  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  But  ray  dear  Richard  now  rests 
from  his  labors. 

In  the  summer  of  1818,  we  held  a  camp-meeting  within  the 
bounds  of  our  circuit,  on  the  land  of  old  brother  Fortune.  It 
was  an  exceedingly  large  meeting,  very  fruitful  in  converts,  aud 
was  made  a  great  blessing  to  our  circuit  and  other  neighboring 
charges.  At  that  meeting  I  saw  Rev.  John  Emory,  D.  D.,  for 
the  first  time,  who  afterward  became  one  of  the  bishops  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  There,  too,  I  saw  that  eccentric 
genius.  Rev.  William  Cravens,  a  local  preacher  in  the  Church. 
Rev.  Joseph  Fry,  Presiding  Elder,  gave  Emory  the  Sunday 
morning  appointment.  With  a  voice  entirely  too  weak  for  such 
an  immense  audience,  he  preached  a  most  valuable  sermon;  bu.t 
I  heard  him  with  pain,  because  of  an  impression  upon  my  mind 
that  not  more  than  one-half  of  the  multitude  could  hear  him. 
At  three  o'clock  Cravens  took  the  stand.  He  was  a  very  large 
man,  with  but  one  eye.  His  weight  was  three  hundred  and 
thirty-three  pounds  !  his  voice  round,  full,  and  strong.  While 
preaching,  he  drank  a  great  deal  of  water,  and  handled  the 
slaveholders  with  uncommon  severity.  They  felt  the  lash  as 
terribly  on  their  souls  as  ever  a  poor  negro  did  on  his  back ; 
and,  like  the  slaves,  they  had  to  take  it  in  comparative  silence, 
for,  at  that  day,  public  seutimeut  still  favored  the  freedom  of 
the  pulpit. 

There  was  at  that  time,  in  Eastern  Virginia,  a  great  abhor- 
rence both  of  the  internal  and  foreign  slave-trade.  Men  who 
bought  up  and  drove  slaves  to  the  cotton  and  rice  plantations 
in  the  South,  to  sell  them  there  in  interminable  bondage,  were' 
called  "  soul-drivers,"  and  were  generally  looked  upon  with  in- 
effable contempt.  For  a  Methodist  to  buy  or  sell  a  negro,  ex- 
cept to  better  his  condition,  was  deemed  a  crime  demanding 
immediate  expulsion  from  the  Church.  An  instance  in  point 
may  be  given.  A  colored  woman,  belonging  to  Colonel  Richard , 
6 


90  EECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Beall,  of  Fauquier  County,  Virginia,  robbed  my  saddle-bags, 
while  cleaning  up  the  room  in  which  I  slept.  This  enraged 
her  master,  and  he  sold  her  to  a  slave-driver,  to  go  South.  A 
slaveholding  member  of  the  Church  brought  charges,  and  I 
had  to  conduct  a  judicial  investigation  of  Beall's  case.  Every 
member  of  the  committee  that  sat  on  the  trial  was  a  slave- 
holder. The  Colonel  acknowledged  the  fact  charged  against 
him,  but  pleaded  the  aggravating  nature  of  the  case.  This  plea 
was  not  deemed  sufficient,  and  the  decision  of  the  slavehold- 
ing committee  was,  that  Beall  must  buy  back  that  woman,  or 
stand  expelled  from  the  Church.  To  this  decision  the  Colonel 
submitted,  and  did  all  he  could  to  buy  back  the  woman,  but 
failed.  He  spent  both  time  and  money  in  the  eflFort,  but  could 
not  buy  her  back  at  any  price.  I  then  brought  the  case  before 
the  ensuing  Quarterly  Conference  for  advice,  as  there  was  much 
feeling  in  the  community  in  relation  to  the  matter.  That  body 
ordered  that  Beall  should  make  a  confession  of  his  crime  be- 
fore the  Church,  in  the  love-feast  the  next  morning,  and  be 
admonished  by  the  preacher  in  charge,  or  stand  expelled  from 
the  Church.  Colonel  Beall  confessed,  with  much  humility  and 
many  tears,  the  anger  and  rashness  of  the  wicked  act  charged 
against  him.  He  was  then  admonished,  according  to  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Quarterly  Conference,  and  so  the  matter  ended,  and 
Beall,  as  it  were,  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth,  retained  his  member- 
ship. This  action  of  the  Church  on  the  slave  question  is  here 
introduced  to  show  the  sentiment  and  temper  of  the  Methodists 
in  Eastern  Virginia  at  that  day. 

The  case  of  Aaron  Griggsby  will  give  a  further  illustration 
of  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  the  Methodists  in  Old  Virginia 
on  the  subject  of  slavery  at  that  time.  The  case  now  to  be 
narrated  occurred  before  my  arrival  on  Stafford  Circuit,  but  I 
have  it  from  reliable  authority,  and,  in  its  main  points,  it  was 
confirmed  to  me  by  Griggsby  himself.  He  was  a  slaveholder, 
a  man  of  the  world,  and  a  persecutor  of  the  Methodists  before 
God  converted  his  soul.  After  his  conversion  he  became  a  very 
zealous  Methodist,  and  had  great  concern  of  mind  on  the  sub- 
ject of  holding  slaves.     It  was  his  custom  to  have  his  negroes 


HOW   METHODISTS    REGARDED    SLAVERY.  91 

present  at  morning  and  evening  worship.  One  evening,  family 
prayer  being  over,  he  requested  them  to  remain  a  little  while; 
he  wanted  to  talk  to  them.  He  then  referred  to  his  manner  of 
life  before  his  conversion,  and  to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  very 
much  opposed  to  the  Methodists,  and  that  in  an  attempt  to  take 
his  own  wife  out  of  the  altar,  at  a  camp-meeting,  he  was  arrested 
by  the  power  of  Grod,  and,  instead  of  getting  her  out,  he  got  into 
it  himself,  and  that  he  and  his  wife,  after  a  long  struggle,  were, 
within  a  few  minutes  of  each  other,  both  converted  to  God  io 
that  altar  which  he  had  once  so  much  despised.  He  then  said, 
that  ever  since  his  conversion  it  had  been  his  aim  in  all  thinss 
to  be  a  Christian,  according  to  the  best  light  God  had  given 
him ;  and  according  to  his  present  light,  he  could  not  innocently 
be  a  slaveholder  any  longer.  He  could  not  do  unto  others  as 
he  wo'uld  have  them  do  unto  him,  and  hold  slaves;  he  must  let 
the  oppressed  go  free,  and  break  every  yoke  ;  and  then,  with 
great  kindness,  he  said,  "  From  and  after  this  date  yvOu  are  all 
free.  To  remain  in  Virginia  longer  than  one  year  and  a  day, 
and  enjoy  freedom,  is  out  of  the  question.  You  would  be  liable 
to  be  taken  up  by  the  sheriff  and  sold,  to  go  down  to  the  South- 
ern plantations,  and  the  money  put  into  the  poor  fund  of  the 
county.  Your  only  chance  for  freedom  is,  to  go  either  to  Mary- 
land or  Pennsylvania.  Make  your  choice  and  go,  all  of  you.  in 
a  body."  He  then  promised  to  assist  them  in  their  removal, 
and  do  all  he  could  in  the  way  of  helping  them  to  begin  life 
for  themselves.  All  of  this  was  as  unexpected  to  these  slaves 
as  a  clap  of  thunder  from  a  clear  sky.  and  they  all  declined  the 
proffered  freedom,  and  wished  to  remain  where  they  were. 
Griggsby  and  wife  never  had  any  children,  and  since  their  con- 
version had  treated  their  slaves  with  great  humanity — more  like 
children  than  slaves — and  they  did  not  want  to  leave  them.  In- 
stead of  rejoicing  that  the  day  of  freedom  had  come,  they  set 
up  a  bitter,  howling  cry  in  every  direction,  saying  they  "  did 
not  know  that  they  had  done  any  thing  to  massa,  that  he  should 
want  them  to  go  away."  Seeing  that  these  poor  creatures  could 
not  be  induced  to  accept  of  freedom,  Griggsby  determined  he 
would  not  use  compulsion  in  the  matter,  so  he  let  them  remaiii 


92  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

as  they  were,  under  the  bond  of  the  law,  and  treated  them  after- 
ward more  like  hirelings  than  slaves.  From  and  after  that  date 
he  would  not  admit  that  he  was,  in  the  moral  sense  of  the  word, 
a  slaveholder,  as  his  negroes  remained  with  him  not  because  he 
wished  them  to  do  so,  but  because  they  wished  to  do  so  them- 
selves. 

Poor,  foolish  negroes !  They  did  not  know  the  value  of  lib- 
erty to  themselves  and  their  children.  Slavery  had  degraded 
them.  They  did  not  reflect  that,  at  the  death  of  their  master, 
they  might  fall  into  cruel  hands,  or  be  sold  at  any  time  during 
his  life,  by  the  officers  of  the  law,  to  pay  his  debts.  Griggsby 
ought  not  to  have  yielded  to  their  ignorant  wailiugs;  but,  un- 
der a  sense  of  moral  justice,  he  should  have  carried  out  his  first 
determination,  and,  whether  they  liked  it  or  not,  should  have  set 
them  all  free.  He  who  suifers  himself  to  be  overcome  by  the 
wail  of  ignorance,  will  not,  in  all  cases,  be  able  to  carry  into 
practical  eflFect  the  principles  of  moral  justice.  Yet,  after  all, 
Grriggsby  might  have  done  better  if  he  had  had  more  light.  The 
full  blaze  of  light  does  not  come  all  at  once :  we  gain  it  grad- 
ually, as  we  are  able  to  bear  it.  He  who  acts  up  to  the  clearest 
light  that  God  gives  him,  as  fast  as  he  gets  it,  acts  nobly.  Who 
among  the  sons  of  men  can  do  any  better? 

Griggsby  was  a  man  of  great  strength  of  character,  of  warm 
and  generous  sympathies,  and  ready  at  all  times  to  defend  the 
cause  of  Christ.  Woe  be  to  the  person  who  assailed  the  Meth- 
odists in  his  presence !  If  such  an  one  had  any  defects  in  his 
character,  then  was  the  time  to  receive  information  on  that  sub- 
ject. I  give  the  following  anecdote  as  an  illustration.  A  very 
pragmatic  lady  once  said  to  him :  "  Mr.  Griggsby,  what  do  you 
think?  Them  poor,  miserable  Methodists  over  at  the  quarterly 
meeting  wanted  me  to  join  their  Church!"  "Did  they,  in- 
deed?" said  Griggsby.  "I  wonder  what  in  the  world  they  could 
have  wanted  with  you !  It  could  not  have  been  your  respecta- 
bility they  were  after,  for  you  have  none.  It  could  not  have 
been  your  wealth  they  were  after,  for  you  have  been  living  on 
the  charity  of  your  poor  friends  ever  since  I  became  acquainted 
with  you.     It  must  have  been  your  jpoor  soul  tliey  were  after !^* 


HOW   METHODISTS   REGARDED    SLAVERY.  93 

Such  a  retort  was  ricLly  deserved,  but  it  was,  probably,  a  little 
too  severe,  coming  from  a  gentleman  to  a  lady.  Such  a  case 
shows  the  man,  always  ready  to  make  persecuting  meanness 
quail  in  his  presence. 

Edward  Diggs,  another  prominent  member  of  the  Church, 
always  held  himself  ready  to  emancipate  his  slaves,  provided  it 
could  be  done  in  the  state.  But,  as  the  law  of  Virginia  would 
not  allow  this,  he  bold  the  law  to  be  the  sinner,  and  not  him- 
self, for  his  heart  was  not  in  unison  with  the  law. 

But  John  Gastou,  still  another  prominent  member  of  the  same 
Church,  thought  both  the  law  and  the  master  sinful,  and  was  in 
great  distress  of  mind  on  the  question  of  slavery.  One  day  he 
invited  me  to  take  a  walk  with  him,  and  as  we  walked,  he 
turned  to  me  and  said:  "I  am  afraid  I  shall  be  lost.  In  my 
judgment,  no  slaveholder  can  be  saved.  The  law  will  not  allow 
me  to  free  my  negroes  in  the  state.  I  would  free  them  and 
send  them  out  of  the  state,  but  can  not."  "  Why  can  you  not 
free  them  and  send  them  out  of  the  state?"  said  I.  "To  do 
80,"  he  replied,  "would  part  husbands  and  wives.  Their  mar- 
riages, though  informal,  I  regard  as  being  as  sacred  and  bind- 
ing as  my  own;  and  they  are  interlocked  by  marriage  with  the 
slaves  of  other  people  all  around  me.  Nor  would  it  mend  the 
matter  to  sell  my  real  estate  in  Virginia,  and  move  with  my 
slaves  to  a  free  state,  to  emancipate  them  there;  for  that,  too, 
would  part  husbands  and  wives.  Nor  am  I  able  to  buy  the  hus- 
bands and  wives  owned  by  others,  even  if  they  were  willing  to 
sell  them,  so  as  to  free  all  of  them  together.  Now,  what  am  I 
to  do?  The  laws  of  the  state,  and  the  circumstances  in  which 
I  am  placed,  emban'ass  me  very  much.  Can  you  tell  me  what 
I  am  to  do?"  Gaston  I  regarded  as  a  very  honest  man,  fully 
bent  on  doing  right;  but  I  was  utterly  incapable  of  advising 
him  in  the  case  submitted  to  my  consideration.  During  our  in- 
terview, he  wept  bitterly  over  the  sad  condition  in  which  slavery 
bad  placed  him,  and  exj)ressed,  again  and  again,  his  fears  that 
his  connection  with  that  unrighteous  institution  would  eventu- 
ate in  the  loss  of  his  soul. 

I  have  been  very  particular  in  stating  my  best  recollections 


94  RECOLLECTIONS   OF  ITINERANT   LIFE. 

of  the  foregoing  cases,  in  order  that  it  may  be  clearly  seen 
that  in  Eastern  Virginia,  since  1818,  there  has  been  a  fearful 
apostasy  from  the  principles  of  human  freedom.  At  that  time, 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  in  some  other  Churches, 
and  among  statesmen,  too,  there  appeared  to  be  a  settled  con- 
viction that  slavery  was  a  great  moral  wrong,  and  ought  to  be 
done  away.  But,  by  degrees,  throughout  the  entire  South,  this 
apostasy  from  human  liberty  and  moral  justice  has  proceeded 
from  bad  to  worse,  until  slavery,  with  all  its  evils,  is  fathered 
upon  the  living  God  as  its  author !  and  the  Christian  Scriptures 
are  brought  to  defend  it !  And,  being  rampant  and  furious,  it 
has  brought  on  our  beloved  country  the  most  gigantic  war  that 
ever  afflicted  the  world.  Oar  country,  and  the  Churches,  too 
long  in  complicity  with  slavery,  and  other  evils,  have  deserved 
this  scourge,  or  God  would  not  have  permitted  it  to  come. 
From  the  slaveholding  and  slave-trading  South,  God,  after  long 
delay,  took  off  all  restraint,  and  left  them  at  will  to  act  out  the 
character  that  slavei-y  had  given  them.  So,  despising  all  the 
authority  of  the  best  government  in  the  world,  they  brought  on 
that  war  to  extend  slavery.  But  now,  according  to  the  signs 
of  the  times,  God.  contrary  to  the  fii-st  intention  of  our  rulers, 
is  about  to  make  use  of  this  war  to  abolish  its  very  existence 
from  our  entire  country.  Hail  to  the  President's  Proclama- 
tion !  Hail  to  Abraham  Lincoln !  Henceforth,  all  the  sons  of 
Ham  will  call  him  blessed.  While  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
civil  history  in  existence,  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  will  be 
ranked  on  the  scroll  of  fame  along  with  the  name  of  George 
Washington,  as  an  American  benefactor;  and  all  the  lovers  of 
freedom  throughout  the  world  will  Jiave  his  name  in  everlast- 
ing remembrance.  God  gave  us,  in  the  person  of  President 
Lincoln,  a  ruler  to  suit  the  times  in  which  we  live.  May  hi3 
wisdom  and  strength  be  according  to  his  day,  and  through  his 
agency  may  freedom  come  to  all  the  slaves,  and  salvation  to  the 
country ! 


DIFFICULTY   ABOUT   THE   CnOIR.  95 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Washington  Station— Difficulty  aboct  the  Choir— Kevival  of  Eeliqion- Study  or 
Greek  AND  Hebrew— Kev.  Matthew  Brown,  D.  D.— Wheeling  and  Short  Creek— 
Noah  Zane— Methodism  and  Calvinism— Lay  Delegation— Dr.  David  Stanton- 
Washington  Station  Again— My  Marriage— Ohio  Circuit— Old  Bachelors— Insuf- 
ficient Support. 

In  Marcli,  1819,  the  Conference  was  in  Baltimore,  and  Bishop 
Roberts,  in  view  of  giving  me  an  opportunity  to  visit  my  be- 
loved mother  occasionally,  appointed  me  to  Washington  Station. 
This  was  a  new  station,  set  off  from  the  Ohio  Circuit  by  Revs. 
Asa  Shinn,  Presiding  Elder,  and  Thornton  Flcmming,  preacher 
in  charge,  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  year ;  and  they  had 
placed  a  choir  of  singers  in  the  gallery.  From  the  scat  of  the 
Conference,  in  traveling  to  the  West,  I  had  the  very  agreeable 
company  of  my  Presiding  Elder  as  far  as  Uniontown.  Never 
shall  I  forget  the  wholesome  lessons  of  Christian  instruction 
given  me  by  that  pious  and  able  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  dur- 
ing the  journey  through  the  mountains.  When  I  arrived  at 
my  destination,  brother  James  Shannon,  with  whom  I  was  to 
board,  immediately  informed  me  that  the  Church,  consisting  of 
about  one  hundred  white  members  and  twenty-five  colored,  was 
unhappily  divided  about  the  singing — one  half  for  choir  sing- 
ing in  the  gallery,  and  the  other  half  against  it.  The  next 
evening,  at  a  large  party  to  which  I  was  invited,  I  found  my- 
self among  the  enemies  of  choir  singing,  who  all  strove,  most 
earnestly,  to  gain  me  to  their  side,  and  secure  the  overthrow  of 
the  singing.  And  when  they  failed  in  their  effort,  they  very 
gravely  informed  me  that,  unless  I  put  the  singing  down,  about 
fifty  of  them  would  leave  the  Church.  I  entreated  them  to 
give  me  a  little  time  for  reflection,  to  do  nothing  in  the  matter 


96  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

hastily,  for  it  might  look  like  presumption,  in  so  young  a  man 
as  I,  to  jiut  down  what  Asa  Shinn  and  Thornton  Flemming,  two 
venerable  apostles  of  Methodism,  had  put  up.  The  next  even- 
ing I  was  invited  out  to  another  party.  There  I  found  myself 
among  the  friends  of  the  choir.  It  was  their  wish  to  gain  me 
to  their  side,  and  to  have  me  indicate  my  approbation  of  gal- 
lery singing,  by  a  public  statement  from  the  pulpit.  This  I 
declined  doing,  and  said  I  should  take  things  as  I  found  them, 
and  not  connect  myself  with  either  party  in  this  Church  quar- 
rel. I  was  then  informed  that  about  fifty  of  them  would  with- 
draw from  the  Church,  unless  I  sustained  the  singing  in  the 
gallery,  established  by  brothers  Shinn  and  Flemming.  The 
singing  party,  by  their  heated  and  fiery  manner,  impressed  me 
with  an  opinion  that,  though  they  were  very  fond  of  music, 
and  could  sing  very  well,  they  did  not  pray  enough,  and  were 
not  as  pious  as  they  should  be,  to  lead  the  singing  of  a  Chris- 
tian congregation. 

It  has  always  been  my  opinion  that,  as  the  singers  in  the 
gallery  lead  one  part  of  the  devotions  of  a  congregation  of 
Christians,  and  the  preacher  in  the  pulpit  the  other,  common 
sense  requires  decent  propriety  among  the  former,  as  really  as 
it  requires  talent,  piety,  and  good  behavior  in  the  latter.  Fear- 
ing that  the  choir,  in  this  case,  had,  somehow  or  other,  misbe- 
haved, and  thereby  given  cause  of  offense  to  the  other  party,  I 
did  not  even  let  them  know  that  I  had  any  friendship  at  all 
for  choir  singing,  however  well  the  singers  might  conduct  them- 
selves. To  let  them  alone  where  my  elder  brethren  had  placed 
them,  and  keep  myself  clear  of  party  strife,  in  view  of  being 
useful  to  the  whole  Church,  was  my  object.  I  had  to  adopt 
my  own  course,  for  neither  of  these  parties  could  be  safe  ad- 
visers. 

My  plan  was  simply  this:  to  carry  up  the  case  to  the  living 
God  for  help.  So,  I  determined  to  visit  the  entire  Church  im- 
mediately, hear  what  they  had  to  say,  and  then  have  a  season 
of  prayer.  When  I  came  to  a  family  who  opposed  the  choir,  I 
would  hear,  with  the  utmost  patience,  all  they  had  to  say; 
then   inquire,   "Is   that   all?"      "Yes."      "Well,   now  let  us 


REVIVAL    OF   RELIGION".  97 

pray."  When  I  came  to  a  family  in  favor  of  tlie  clioir,  and 
very  bitter  against  its  opposers,  I  would  hear  them,  too,  with 
all  due  patience,  and  say,  as  before,  "Is  that  all?"  "Yes." 
"Well,  now  let  us  pray."  After  this  manner  I  went  through 
the  whole  Church,  listening  patiently  to  all  parties,  until  they 
were  done,  and  making  no  other  reply  than  this :  "  Now  let  us 
pray."  All  parties,  in  a  short  time,  began  to  regard  me  as  a 
queer  kind  of  a  man,  for  they  would  get  nothing  out  of  me, 
in  relation  to  their  troubles,  but,  "Now  let  us  pray."  And  in 
the  pulpit  nothing  was  said  by  which  any  one  could  learn  that 
we  had  trouble  in  the  Church,  about  singing  or  any  thing  else. 
In  that  sacred  place  the  pure  religion  of  the  Saviour  was  ex- 
plained and  enforced;  the  members  were  urged  to  higher  at- 
tainments in  the  Divine  life,  and  sinners  to  seek  the  salvation 
of  their  souls,  for  my  faith  was,  that  nothing  but  a  revival  of 
religion  would  end  this  bitter  strife  and  save  the  Church.  In 
about  three  months,  sinners  began  to  be  awakened  and  con- 
verted to  God,  and,  through  these  conversions,  God  reached 
the  Church.  All  parties  became  ashamed  of  their  strife,  con- 
fessed their  folly  to  one  another,  and  came  to  the  altar  as  la- 
borers in  the  revival.  That  year,  a  camp-meeting  at  Pike  Run, 
and  another  at  Castleman's  Eun,  largely  attended  by  our  peo- 
ple, were  made  a  great  blessing  to  Washington  Station.  The 
work  went  on  all  the  fall  and  winter.  It  got  into  the  gallery 
among  the  singers,  all  of  whom  were  converted  but  one.  It 
also  extended  to  the  country  round  about  Washington,  and 
reached  many  who  were  Calvinistically  educated,  and  whose 
connections  belonged  to  other  Churches.  On  various  occasions 
I  have  seen  as  high  as  seventy-five  at  the  altar  of  prayer  at 
one  time ;  and  about  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  members 
were  added  to  the  Church  that  year  in  my  charge.  God  gave 
the  Church  a  better  work  to  do  than  to  contend  with  one  an- 
other about  choir  singing  in  the  gallery.  A  more  harmonious 
and  loving  Church  I  never  saw,  and  I  felt  in  my  heart  an  in- 
expressible love  for  the  spiritual  children  whom  God  had  given 
me,  and  for  the  whole  Church.  Yet  I  was  afraid  to  return  to 
them  the  ensuing  year,  as,  in  my  opinion,  such  a  work,  in  such 


98  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

a  community,  did  require  a  preacher  of  more  extensive  knowl- 
edge and  experience  than  I  knew  myself  to  possess. 

It  was  my  fixed  purpose,  during  the  early  part  of  my  min- 
istry, to  go  carefully  through  Murray's  English  Grammar  once 
a  year,  in  view  of  establishing  myself  in  all  the  rules  of  correct 
speaking  and  writing.  The  progress  made  in  this  direction  was 
never  satisfactory  to  myself,  and,  I  suppose,  not  to  others  who 
possessed  much  refinement  in  grammatical  knowledge.  While 
in  Washington  I  commenced  the  study  of  the  G-reek  language, 
availing  myself  of  the  help  of  a  student,  Hugh  Koontz,  who 
was  in  his  junior  year  in  the  college  at  that  place.  My  prog- 
ress was  slow,  as  I  was  overburdened  with  duties;  and,  not- 
withstanding I  continued  the  efi'ort  for  several  years,  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  Greek — though  it  saved  me  from  being  imposed 
upon  by  those  who  pretended  to  more  knowledge  of  that  lan- 
guage than  they  really  had — never  amounted  to  any  thing  like 
critical  accuracy.  About  the  same  time,  I  undertook  the  He- 
brew, being  very  desirous  of  understanding  the  sacred  originals 
of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  But,  as  the  study  of 
both  languages  at  once,  in  connection  with  my  duties  as  a  Chris- 
tian minister,  in  the  midst  of  a  glorious  revival,  proved  a  little 
too  heavy  for  my  health,  I  dropped  the  Hebrew,  and  confined 
myself  exclusively  to  the  Greek.  What  labor  throughout  life 
'is  given  to  the  man  who  enters  the  ministry  with  a  defective  I 
education!  Yet,  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  age  in  which  we 
live,  this  labor  must  be  performed;  and  many  have  performed 
it,  and  have  become  the  giants  of  the  land. 

While  in  Washington,  I  received  much  encouragement  from 
Rev.  Matthew  Brown,  D.  J).,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
He  was  a  liberal-minded  Christian  gentleman.  He  often  at- 
tended our  meetings  during  the  revival,  and  advised  one  or 
two  ladies,  who  were  in  good  standing  in  his  Church,  to 
join  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  along  with  their  hus- 
bands, who  had  been  very  intemperate,  but  had  been  converted 
and  joined  the  Church  during  the  revival.  In  the  midst  of  so 
much  surrounding  and  overshadowing  bigotry  and  intolerance 
aa  then  prevailed,  such  an  act  of  genuine  liberality  deserves  to 


WHEELING   AND    SHORT    CREEK.  99 

be  recorded  by  me,  to  the  credit  of  Dr.  Brown.  Indeed,  such 
was  the  influence  of  that  revival  upon  the  community,  that 
intolerance  in  every  direction  had  to  lower  its  sails,  and  abate 
something  of  the  harshness  of  its  tone  and  manner  toward  the 
Methodists.  Still,  there  were  some  who  were  strong,  and  even 
fierce,  in  the  faith  that  all  this  revival  was  of  the  devil,  and 
that  his  Satanic  Majesty  was  my  main  support  in  all  my  labors. 
To  help  on  the  work  in  town,  I  occasionally  preached  in  the 
country.  One  evening,  about  dark,  as  I  was  coming  in  on  the 
Wheeling  pike  from  one  of  my  country  appointments,  I  found 
myself  riding  in  company  with  a  very  jolly  Irish  woman.  As 
we  entered  a  little  way  into  the  town,  she  pointed  with  her 
hand  off  to  the  right,  and  said:  "What  matin'-house  is  that 
down  there?"  "Methodist  meeting-house,  ma'am,"  said  I. 
"  Is  that  where  that  Brown  praiches?  "  said  she.  "  Yes,  ma'am," 
said  I.  "Sure,"  said  she,  "if  all  that  the  paple  tell  me  be 
corrict,  the  divil  must  help  that  man."  "Why  so?"  I  asked. 
"Why,"  said  she,  "they  tell  me  that  he  can  praich,  and  ex- 
hort, and  pray,  and  sing,  day  and  night,  wake  in  an'  wake  out, 
and  that  the  paple  can  hear  him  a  mile  off,  and,  sure,  no  man 
upon  earth  could  do  that  unless  the  divil  did  help  him."  I 
tried  to  get  a  little  more  of  the  same  sort,  but  could  not,  for 
she  turned  into  another  street,  and  so  this  amusing  dialogue 
ended. 

This  poor,  ignorant  woman  was  wrong  in  attributing  to  the 
devil  my  strength  to  labor;  it  came  from  the  Lord.  And  there 
was  no  protracted  meeting,  "week  in  and  week  out;"  the  re- 
vival at  Washington  was  carried  on  at  the  ordinary  meetings, 
and  we  ought  to  have  revivals  at  our  ordinary  meetings  now. 

In  March,  1820,  the  Conference  was  at  Alexandria,  and  I 
was  appointed  to  Wheeling  and  Short  Creek,  in  Western  Vir- 
ginia. These  two  appointments  were  nine  miles  apart.  The 
Short  Creek  congregation  was  strong,  while  the  one  in  Wheel- 
ing was  weak,  and  had  lately  been  in  a  good  deal  of  trouble 
on  the  slavery  question.  Bev.  John  Waterman,  my  prede- 
cessor, had  preached  a  sermon  against  the  institution  of  slavery, 
which  roused  the  wrath  of  some   of  the  leading   men  of  the 


100  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

place,  and  Waterman  was  driven  out  of  Wheeling  by  a  mob, 
headed  by  Noah  Zane,  a  wealthy  citizen,  and  James  Sprigg,  a 
lawyer.  So,  for  several  months,  in  that  place,  the  Methodists 
had  no  preaching.  The  year  before,  on  going  to  Washington, 
I  found  trouble,  and  now,  in  Wheeling,  it  did  seem  that  I  was 
to  have  trouble  again,  for  I  had  no  way  to  interpret  the  Bible 
in  favor  of  slavery,  and  if  I  came  out  against  it,  another  mob 
might  banish  me,  too,  as  well  as  Waterman. 

On  my  first  Sunday  in  Wheeling,  after  preaching  morning 
and  evening,  I  announced  preaching  for  Thursday  night;  and 
there  was  a  large  congregation  for  a  week  night.  Among  the 
rest  came  Noah  Zane,  and,  wrapped  in  a  large  blue  cloak,  he 
took  his  seat  among  the  ladies,  and  paid  very  strict  attention, 
while  I  discussed  the  great  question  of  moral  justice,  and 
brought  it  home  to  the  conscience  as  closely  as  I  could.  When 
the  meeting  was  dismissed,  Zane,  whom  I  had  never  seen  be- 
fore, went  out  and  waited  at  the  door  for  me.  At  last  he  sent 
a  man  to  tell  me  he  wished  me  to  go  home  with  him.  I 
went  to  the  door  and  declined,  saying  I  had  engaged  myself 
another  way.  But  he  would  take  no  denial;  said  he  had  busi- 
ness with  me,  and  I  must  go  to  his  house  that  night.  I  felt 
some  reluctance,  knowing  how  he  had  used  Waterman;  but  got 
myself  released  from  my  other  engagement,  and  went  with  him, 
wondering,  as  we  walked  arm  in  arm  together,  what  business 
he  could  have  with  me.  Finally,  he  introduced  Waterman's 
case ;  said  he  was  a  man  of  splendid  talents,  and  that  he  and 
Sprigg  had  greatly  misused  him,  and  that  he  had  been  ashamed 
of  his  part  in  the  transaction  ever  since.  "  But,"  said  he, 
"  Brown,  while  you  discussed  that  question  of  moral  justice  to- 
night, I  resolved  that  I  would  free  two  negroes  before  I  would 
sleep,  and  my  business  with  you  is  to  have  you  sign  their  free 
papers  as  a  witness.  On  last  Thursday,  I  sold  two  colored 
women  for  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  to  go  to  the  South,  and 
next  Monday  morning  they  were  to  have  been  delivered  to  the 
purchaser.  I  know  I  am  a  wicked  man;  but  still  I  have  a 
conscience.  I  can  never  put  that  money  into  my  pocket.  I 
must  cancel  the  transaction,  and  I  will  do  it  this  night  before  I 


NOAH    ZANE.  101 

sleep.  Your  sermon  led  me  to  change  my  mind,  and  I  want 
you  to  witness  their  emancipation."  This  is  the  substance  of 
what  he  said,  and,  as  ne;irly  as  I  can  recollect,  the  very  words. 
After  introducing  me  to  his  wife,  we  went  into  the  library- 
room  to  look  at  his  books.  His  library  was  large,  and  Mr. 
Zane  took  apparent  delight  in  showing  his  books  and  in  dis- 
cussing the  merits  of  the  various  authors.  At  last,  he  said : 
"It  is  growing  late;  the  family  have  all  retired,  and  we  can't 
have  prayers  to-night,  as  is  our  custom  when  preachers  are 
with  us.  We  will  have  prayers  in  the  morning,  and  in  the 
morning,  too,  I  will  have  the  emancipation  papers  ready  for 
you  to  sign  as  witness."  So  saying,  he  took  a  light  and  con- 
ducted me  to  my  sleeping-room.  When  he  left  me,  I  began 
to  fear  that,  as  he  had  not  freed  the  slaves  before  he  slept,  he 
might  cool  oiF  against  morning,  and  not  free  them  at  all. 

But,  in  the  morning  early,  I  found  Mr.  Zane  in  the  library, 
with  the  papers  all  ready,  and  I  put  my  name  to  them  both,  as 
witness.  He  then  called  in  the  two  emancipated  women,  and  told 
them  that,  "  for  disobedience  to  their  mistress,  he  had,  on  last 
Thursday,  sold  them  to  a  Southern  trader,  to  be  delivered  to  him 
next  Monday  morning."  There  he  paused,  and  the  women  gave 
signs  of  alarm.  "But,"  said  he,  pointing  to  me,  "  this  is  Mr. 
Brown,  and  I  want  you  to  remember  him.  On  hearing  him 
preach,  last  night,  I  changed  my  mind,  and  determined  to  set 
you  both  free,  and  I  want  you  to  remember  him  as  long  as  you 
live,  and  that  you  owe  your  liberty  to  him."  He  then  gave 
each  of  them  a  paper  of  freedom  and  twenty-five  dollars  in  sil- 
ver, and  advised  them  to  go  immediately  to  Ohio,  and  never  to 
come  within  fifty  miles  of  him,  as  they  could  not  retain  their 
freedom  in  Virginia.  The  family  were  then  called  in,  and  we 
had  morning  worship,  at  which  time  the  Divine  blessing  was 
invoked  on  Mr.  Zane  and  his  family,  but  especially  on  the  col- 
ored women  just  now  emancipated,  and  ordered  to  go  forth  into 
the  world  and  do  for  themselves.  These  freed  women  were 
young,  healthy,  and  handsome,  and  I  hope  freedom  proved  a 
blessing  to  them.  Zane  then  said  to  me :  "  This  act  of  mine 
will  probably  be  considered  as  a  political  maneuver,  to  gain  the 


102  KECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

votes  of  the  Methodists,  as  I  am  now  before  the  public  as  a 
candidate  for  Congress.  But  I  have  freed  these  slaves  in  obe- 
dience to  the  dictates  of  my  own  conscience,  and,  that  my  mo- 
tives may  not  be  misunderstood,  I  will  go  this  day  and  with- 
draw my  name  from  before  the  public,  and  be  no  longer  a 
candidate."  And  he  did  so,  for  I  saw  the  withdrawal  in  the 
Wheeling  papers.  Many  wicked  men  have  some  good  things 
about  them,  as  the  foregoing  case  will  show.  Sinner  as  he 
was,  Noah  Zane  had  a  conscience. 

The  country  part  of  my  charge  was  very  prosperous  that 
year.  We  gained  many  converts  to  the  Lord  and  additions  to 
the  Church,  by  means  of  another  camp-meeting  at  Castleman's 
Run.  We  had  a  loving,  faithful,  harmonious  membership  in 
the  country — a  real  working  Church.  Who  ever  saw  a  working 
Church  foil  of  a  revival?  Who  ever  saw  a  lazy,  do-nothing 
Church  have  a  revival  ?  In  Wheeling,  we  had  a  faithful,  work- 
ing membership,  and  a  considerable  increase  by  conversions  ;  but 
there  was  some  trouble  in  the  Church,  after  all.  As  I  only 
occupied  the  pulpit  half  the  time  in-  town,  the  Presbyterians, 
who,  at  that  time,  had  no  house  of  worship  of  their  own,  with- 
out fee  or  reward,  occupied  our  house  the  other  half  of  the 
time.  In  those  days,  the  controversy  between  the  Calvinistic 
Churches  and  the  Methodists,  on  what  was  called  "the  five 
points,"  was  rather  bitter  than  otherwise.  So,  it  happened  that 
in  our  own  pulpit  the  doctrines  of  Methodism  were  assailed, 
and  grossly  misrepresented,  by  Rev.  James  Harvey,  and  it  be- 
came necessary  to  give  them  the  best  defense  in  my  power. 
In  doing  this  I  ventured  over  a  little  into  the  regions  of  Cal- 
vinism, with  the  Confession  of  Faith  in  my  hand,  to  let  the 
people  see  how  the  doctrines  of  that  book  would  stand  in  meas- 
urement with  the  Holy  Scriptures.  In  all,  I  preached  six  care- 
fully prepared  sermons  on  the  points  of  difference  between 
Methodism  and  Calvinism.  This  ended  our  troiibles  with  our 
Calvinistic  brethren,  for  they  drew  off  to  another  place,  and  we 
pursued  our  own  course  in  now  efforts  to  evangelize  this  wicked 
world.  How  glad  I  am  that  those  days  of  controversial  strife 
have  measurably  passed  away,  and  that  a  greater  harmony  now 


LAY   DELEGATION.  103 

prevails  among  the  Chiirclies  than  in  former  years.  The  con- 
verts gained  to  the  Church  on  either  side,  in  the  time  of  a  heated 
controversy,  are  more  apt  to  be  sectarian  bigots  tlian  thorough 
evangelical  Christians.  Yet,  the  risk  of  all  this  is  incurred, 
•when  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity  are  assailed, 
either  by  infidels  or  heretics  or  mistaken  Christians.  Every 
minister  is  set  for  the  defense  of  the  Gospel. 

In  Wheeling,  and  in  the  country  part  of  my  charge,  the  ad- 
ditions to  the  Church  during  the  year  were  about  one  hundred 
and  sixty  members,  many  of  whom  still  remain,  but  others  have 
fallen  asleep.  Some  of  the  best  Christian  friends  I  ever  had 
in  all  my  life  were  to  be  found  in  the  Wheeling  and  Short 
Creek  charge.  While  preaching,  on  Christmas  day,  at  the  Short 
Creek  Meeting-house,  my  horse  died.  This  fact  was  reported 
me  as  soon  as  I  came  out  of  the  pulpit,  and  I  felt  sad,  for  he 
was  a  noble  animal.  But  the  brethren  and  outside  friends 
bade  me  be  of  good  cheer,  for  I  should  soon  have  another 
horse ;  and  before  I  left  the  place  they  then  and  there  bought 
and  paid  for  a  horse  <every  way  equal  to  the  one  1  had  lost,  and 
presented  him  to  me.  Such  acts  of  kindness  deserve  to  be  re- 
membered. 

On  returning  to  Wheeling,  I  found  in  the  post-office  a  circu- 
lar, signed  Adynacius,  addressed  "to  all  the  itinerant  preachers 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  favor  of  lay  delegation 
in  said  Church,  and  strongly  urging  this  measure  upon  public 
attention.  The  light  contained  in  this  circular  was  rather 
strong  for  my  eyes ;  it  produced  pain.  In  Methodistical  econ- 
omy, to  which  I  had  been  familiarized  from  childhood,  I  had 
supposed  every  thing  to  be  exactly  right ;  but  now,  here  was  a 
circular,  powerfully  written,  going  to  show  that  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  many  things  were  ex- 
actly wrong.  After  reading  the  above  circular,  I  felt  indig- 
nant, and  threw  it  away,  hoping  never  to  have  another  such 
production  sent  to  my  address.  I  wanted  Methodism  to  roll  on 
as  it  was,  down  to  the  end  of  the  world.  That  week  I  went  to 
Steubenville  to  attend  a  quarterly  meeting,  to  be  held  at  New- 
Year.     In  the  Quarterly  Conference,  on  Saturday,  the  preacher 


104  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE.  . 

in  charge,  Rev.  Curtis  Godard,  was  charged  with  maladminis- 
tration. A  large  class,  of  about  forty  members,  had  been  ex- 
pelled for  continuing,  contrary  to  his  orders,  to  hold  a  class 
prayer-meeting  on  a  night  that  did  not  conflict  with  the  regular 
weekly  prayer-meeting  of  the  Church.  Their  class  paper  was 
burned  by  his  Reverence,  and  they  were  all  publicly  declared  to 
be  no  more  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
Presiding  Elder,  Rev.  William  Swazie,  gave  his  opinion  in  the 
case,  against  the  doings  of  Godard,  and  ordered  all  the  expelled 
to  be  publicly  restored  to  membership  again.  They  were  ac- 
cordingly restored,  as  directed  by  the  Elder ;  but  the  case  left 
in  my  mind  ample  materials  for  reflection  on  the  legal  powers 
of  Methodist  preachers,  as  being  so  great  that  sometimes  a  dom- 
ineering spirit  is  thereby  induced,  which  goes  away  beyond  the 
law,  into  maladministration  and  tyranny. 

I  reported  the  above  case  to  Rev.  Daniel  Hett,  and  he  laughed 
heartily,  and  said  such  cases  were  quite  common  among  Meth- 
odist preachers;  and  then  told  me  how  he  had  himself  once 
dismembered  a  large  class,  by  burning  the  class  paper  and  pro- 
nouncing all  the  members  out  of  the  Church.  They  had  a 
member's  case  under  judicial,  investigation  before  the  class,  and 
the  whole  of  the  members  became  unmanageable,  and  he  took 
this  method  to  settle  the  difiiculty.  He  afterward  made  a  new 
class  paper,  and  proposed  to  take  all  in  again  who  would  agree 
to  behave  themselves ;  but  I  think  he  told  me  that  only  a  few 
of  them  came.  The  rest  were  all  aff'ronted,  and  well  they  might 
be.  To  hold  one's  membership  in  the  Church  of  Christ  at  the 
mere  will  of  the  preacher  in  charge,  liable  to  be  burned  out  at 
any  time,  to  avoid  a  little  trouble,  is  enough  to  aiFront  any  man 
of  sense. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression.  On  Monday  evening,  all 
the  preachers  were  invited  to  take  tea  at  the  house  of  Dr. 
David  Stanton,  father  of  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  now  Secretary  of 
War.  He  was  a  profound  thinker — a  real  practical  philosopher. 
While  at  the  table,  the  Presiding  Elder,  who  was  always  angling 
for  big  fish,  said:  "Dr.  Stanton,  are  you  going  to  love-feast  to- 
night?"    "Yes,"    said   the   Doctor,  "it   is   my  design   to  go." 


LAY   DELEGATIOX.  105 

"Well,"  said  the  Elder,  "I  wish  you  would  join  our  Church; 
your  lady  belongs,  and  we  would  like  to  have  you,  too."  For 
a  moment  all  were  silent.  Dr.  Stanton  then  replied,  in  his  own 
calm,  slow  manner:  "Friend  Swazie,  I  never  shall  join  your 
Church.  I  like  the  doctrines  and  I  like  the  meetings ;  but  I 
never  will  submit  my  moral  standing  to  the  operations  of  a 
Church  government  which  is  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy." 
The  Elder  then  threw  himself  forward  into  a  rapid  illustration 
of  the  principles  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  govern- 
ment, by  comparing  them  to  the  wheels  of  a  great  double-geared 
mill.  "There  is,"  said  he,  "one  great,  all-moving  wheel,  rolling 
on  with  tremendous  energy" — at  the  same  time  making  a  circu- 
lar motion  with  his  hand — "  which  keeps  the  whole  machinery 
in  motion,  and  it  is  the  episcopal  wheel.  Within  this  wheel 
there  are  sundry  other  lesser  wheels,  subordinate  in  character, 
moving  on  with  great  efficiency,  accomplishing  much  good  for 
the  Church,  and  they  are  the  presiding  elder  wheels.  Within 
these  there  are  many  other  wheels,  acting  with  great  power, 
and  accomplishing  an  immense  amount  of  good,  and  they  are 
the  circuit  and  stationed  preacher  wheels.  And  within  these 
are  many  other  smaller  wheels,  each  in  its  own  place,  in  due 
subordination  to  all  the  rest,  performing  its  part  most  benefi- 
cially for  the  Church,  and  they  are  the  local  preacher,  ex- 
torter, and  class-leader  wheels.  So  the  whole  system  moves  on 
like  Ezekiel's  vision — wheel  within  wheel.  It  is  the  most  per- 
fect government  that  ever  was  instituted ;  and  you  could  not 
touch  a  cog  or  pin  in  any  of  its  machinery  without  doing  it 
an  injury."  After  this  manner,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recollect, 
spake  the  Elder,  during  which  time  eating  was  suspended,  or 
nearly  so,  and  all  waited  for  the  Doctor's  reply.  In  a  moment 
lie  said,  with  a  sarcastic  smile,  "^?/e,  and  all  these  wheels  to 
grind  these  peopled  This  retort  was  withering  on  us  all.  It 
came  like  a  clap  of  thunder  from  a  clear  sky.  When  no  reply 
was  made  by  the  Elder,  the  Doctor  proceeded:  "Gentlemen," 
said  he,  "  your  Church  government  is  more  arbitrary  than  the 
British  government,  which  our  fathers  threw  off  at  the  expense 
of  so  much  blood  and  treasure,  and  which  was  finally  banished 

7 


106  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

from  our  laud  by  the  sword  of  our  valiant  Wasliington.  Tliat 
goverumeut  had  three  principles  in  it :  the  monarchical,  the 
aristocratical,  and  the  republican.  Yours  has  but  two :  the 
monarchical  and  the  aristocratical.  Your  episcopacy  answers 
to  the  British  monarchy;  your  itinerants,  holding  j)ower  for 
life,  answer  to  their  peerage,  or  House  of  Lords.  But  they  have 
a  House  of  Commons,  composed  of  delegates  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple. What  House  of  Commons  have  you?  You  are  a  house 
behind  them.     I  never  shall  join  your  Church." 

Here  the  conversation  ended,  and  we  all  went  to  the  love- 
feast,  which  was,  indeed,  a  queer  meeting  to  me,  though  others 
appeared  to  enjoy  it  well.  There  was  much  speaking  of  the 
right  kind,  and  the  singing  was  very  fin'e.  But  my  mind  was 
busy  another  way.  In  my  imagination  I  could  see  all  the 
wheels,  spoken  of  by  the  Elder  at  the  tea-table,  rolling,  and  hear 
the  Doctor's  sarcastic  retort,  "Aye,  and  all  these  wheels  to  grind 
the  people,"  ringing  in  my  ears.  From  and  after  that  time  I 
was  a  convert  to  lay  delegation,  and  did  believe  in  my  heart 
that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had  as  much  right  to  a 
free  representative  government  as  the  state ;  and  that  to  be  a 
republican  in  the  state  and  a  monarchist  in  the  Church  involved 
a  contradiction,  from  which  I  thought  the  Church  ought  to  be 
delivered  as  soon  as  practicable. 

The  widow  of  Dr.  Stanton  is  still  living  in  Steubenville.  She 
is  a  most  excellent  Christian  lady,  and  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church.  About  three  years  ago,  she  and  I  com- 
pared our  recollections  of  the  conversation  in  her  presence  at 
the  tea-table,  between  Dr.  Stanton  and  the  Presiding  Elder, 
above  referred  to,  and  found  a  perfect  agreement  between  us  as 
to  the  facts  as  I  have  stated  them.  And  I  have  no  doubt  but 
lawyer  Dunham,  of  Beaver,  if  living,  would  bear  testimony  to 
the  accuracy  of  my  statement,  for  he  was  present,  and,  being  a 
zealous  Methodist,  must  have  as  deeply  felt  the  mortification  of 
defeat  as  any  of  the  rest  of  us.  Indeed,  he  told  me  in  my  own 
house,  in  Pittsburg,  in  presence  of  Rev.  Z.  Ragan,  that  he  did, 
and  that  his  recollection  of  the  matter  was  about  like  mine. 

When  I  adopted  the  lay  delegation  principle,  it  was  not  my 


WASHINGTON   STATION   AGAIN.  107 

intention  to  become  immediately  active  in  advocating  its  adop- 
tion by  the  Church.  I  vranted  the  question  discussed  by  our 
most  aged  and  able  ministers,  that  the  Methodist  community 
might  be  informed  on  that  subject;  and  it  never  entered  into 
my  mind  that  there  would  be  any  objection  on  the  part  of  the 
preachers  to  such  a  discussion.  Indeed,  I  thought  that  the 
preachers  only  needed  to  see  that  they  had  too  much  power  in 
the  government,  and  the  laity  too  little,  to  induce  them  to  adopt 
lay  delegation.  But  in  this  thing  I  was  undei*"  a  mistake,  as  I 
have  many  times  been  in  other  matters ;  for  it  was  found,  upon 
fair  trial,  that  the  preachers  were  not  willing  to  have  their  pow- 
ers in  the  government  of  the  Church  publicly  discussed,  much 
less  were  they  willing  to  divide  their  powers  by  granting  the 
people  lay  delegation.  I  learned  all  this  by  slow  degrees,  as  act- 
ual experience  brought  the  matter  to  light.  What  I  knew  not 
at  first  I  was  made  to  know  afterward,  very  much  to  my  sorrow. 
At  the  Conference,  in  March,  1821,  I  was  appointed  to  Wash- 
ington again.  After  an  absence  of  one  year — during  which 
time  Rev.  John  Bear  was  their  pastor — it  was  pleasant  to  re- 
turn to  my  warm-hearted  and  faithful  friends  in  Washington. 
In  that  station  God  had  given  me  many  spiritual  children,  and 
it  was  very  gratifying,  indeed,  to  find  that  brother  Bear,  my 
successor,  had  taken  good  care  of  them,  and  that  most  of  them 
were  prospering  in  the  Divine  life.  I  could  fully  appreciate  the 
language  of  the  Apostle  John,  when  he  said,  "  I  have  no  greater 
joy  than  to  hear  that  my  children  walk  in  the  truth."  But 
during  that  year,  so  many  of  them  removed  to  various  parts  of 
the  West,  that  I  was  made  to  feel  sad  at  parting  with  them. 
Yet,  I  should  not  have  felt  sad,  if  I  could  have  seen  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  in  their  removal,  as  I  saw  it  in  after  years ;  for  I 
fouud  them  here  and  there  in  all  the  West,  doing  more  service 
to  the  cause  of  Christ  than  they  would  probably  ever  have  done 
had  they  remained  in  Washington.  A  few  of  them  became 
preachers  of  the  Grospel;  others,  who  were  mechanics,  settled 
in  towns,  and  became  prominent  members  of  the  Church.  Some 
bought  farms  in  new  districts,  opened  their  houses  for  preach- 
ing, and  contributed  largely  to  the  raising  up  of  new  Churches. 


108  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

God  may  liave  wise  designs  in  the  removal  of  Churcli  members 
from  one  place  to  another.  In  one  place,  well  supplied  with 
active  laboring  members,  there  may  be  no  room  for  a  young 
class  capable  of  equal  activity  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  Now 
this  young  class  must  either  bury  their  talents  where  they  are, 
or  remove  to  another  place  to  find  an  opening  for  labor.  Such 
removals  are  of  Providence,  and  are  meant  for  the  good  of  the 
Church,  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  the  welfare  of  the  individuals 
who  remove. 

This  was  a  prosperous  year  in  Washington  Station,  yet  not 
equally  so  with  my  first  year  in  that  place.  We  had  preaching 
in  Claysville,  Canonsburg,  and  at  Dr.  Moore's,  John  Scott's,  and 
other  places  round  about,  all  opening  the  way  for  the  forma- 
tion of  new  circuits  in  after  years.  I  went  that  year  and 
labored  some  time,  doing  missionary  service  in  the  formation  of 
the  Chartiers  Circuit,  between  Pittsburgh  and  Canonsburg.  This 
outside  work — enough  for  one  man — all  came  on  me,  and  was 
attended  to  through  the  week,  without  materially  interfering 
with  my  duties  in  the  station  assigned  me.  Along  with  all  this, 
my  eflForts  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language,  under 
the  instruction  of  Hugh  Koontz,  were  still  continued.  In  fact, 
I  felt  an  ambition — and  there  is  nothing  sinful  in  this  word — 
to  improve  myself  all  I  could  in  the  knowledge  of  ecclesiastical 
and  civil  history,  in  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  as  well  as  in 
natural  and  biblical  theology.  My  prompting  adage  was,  "He 
who  will  not  learn,  can  not  teach."  As  I  felt  myself  called  of 
G-od  to  be  a  Christian  teacher,  I  felt  myself  equally  called  to  be 
a  learner  in  every  branch  of  knowledge  that  would  contribute 
to  my  success  in  the  Gospel  ministry.  He  who  addresses  mind, 
should  understand  the  laws  of  mind,  and  all  the  emotive  prin- 
ciples of  human  nature.  And  the  history  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  nations  will  furnish  many  an  illustration  in  pressing 
home  theological  truth  upon  the  souls  of  men.  Yet,  after  all, 
and  above  all,  the  pious,  humble  preacher,  who  pants  for  suc- 
cess in  building  up  the  Church  of  Christ,  must  mainly  study 
three  books:  the  Bible,  for  there  he  learns  the  will  of  God; 
the  congregation,  for  there  he  learns  the  wants  of  his  people', 


MY   MARRIAGE.  109 

his  own  lieart,  for  there  he  learns  the  motives  by  which  he  is 
actuated,  and  he  should  never  allow  those  motives  to  be  sinister 
in  their  character. 

In  the  summer  of  that  year,  two  very  successful  camp-meet- 
ings contributed  largely  to  the  increase  of  membership  in  my 
charge ;  and  there  were  a  goodly  number  added,  as  the  result 
of  home  labor.  Nearly  one  hundred  in  all,  if  I  remember 
rightly,  were  received  into  the  Church  that  year.  And  yet, 
after  so  many  removals,  the  increase  was  but  small. 

In  the  seventh  year  of  my  ministry,  on  the  6  th  day  of  De- 
cember, 18^1,  I  was  married  to  Miss  Eli^a  Jackson,  of  Wash- 
ington, Pennsylvania.  I  am  now  writing,  January  12,  18G4, 
,  and  my  beloved  wife  still  lives  to  be  a  blessing  to  me.  I  re- 
gard such  a  wife  as  one  of  the  best  gifts  of  God  to  man.  Often 
had  the  thought  of  marriage  entered  into  my  mind  before,  and 
once  I  felt  inclined  to  indulge  that  thought,  but,  for  several  rea- 
sons, I  did  not.  "Why  should  a  young  preacher  make  haste  to 
take  a  wife,  and  thus  double  his  claim  on  the  Church  for  sup- 
port, when  he  is  not  fully  certain  yet  that  he  is  worth  his  own 
support?  There  are  principles  of  justice  involved  here,  and 
young  preachers  should  study  them  well.  He  who  marries  too 
soon,  and  claims  from  the  Church  support  for  a  wife,  as  well  as 
for  himself,  when,  even  in  a  judgment  of  charity,  his  kind  of 
qualifications  for  ministerial  service  will  not  entitle  him  to  more 
than  a  single  man's  salary,  makes  an  unjust  claim;  and  for  so 
doing,  both  he  and  his  wife  may,  under  a  just  Providence,  have 
to  sufier,  until  further  improvement  will  enable  him  to  earn  his 
wife's  support  as  well  as  his  own.  There  are  giving  and  taking 
in  this  thing.  A  preacher  should  be  able  to  render  service  to 
the  Church  equal  in  value  to  the  salary  claimed,  before  it  will 
be  just,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man,  for  him  to  take  that  sal- 
ary. Why  should  not  young  preachers  think  of  moral  prin- 
ciples, as  well  as  love,  when  they  are  about  to  get  married? 
Marriage,  they  seem  to  think,  is  a  matter  of  love,  and  who  cares 
for  moral  principle  when  love  is  under  consideration? 

At  the  Conference,  in  March,  1822,  I  was  appointed  to  Ohio 
Circuit,  as  an  assistant  to  Rev.  David  Stevens,  an  old  bachelor, 


110  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

about  sixty  years  of  age.  This  I  understood  to  be  a  punish- 
ment inflicted  upon  me  by  an  old  bachelor  Presiding  Elder, 
because  I  had  forsaken  the  ranks  of  old  bachelors,  and  had  en- 
tered into  matrimonial  life,  contrary  to  his  wishes.  There  were 
quite  a  number  of  old  bachelors  in  the  Baltimore  Conference, 
to  which  I  then  belonged,  and  all  of  them  were,  more  or  less, 
celebrated  for  severity  of  temper.  It  takes  the  family  relation 
to  call  out  the  tender  sympathies  and  social  qualities  of  the 
human  heart.  My  colleague  was  not  an  exception  to  the  gen- 
eral rule.  He  had  lived  locked  up  within  himself,  as  old  bach- 
elors generally  do,  and  was  testy,  crabbed,  and  sour  to  me  and 
my  wife.  Even  his  very  godliness  had  in  it  a  tartness  that  was 
noticed  in  the  families  where  he  lodged,  and  in  the  pulpits 
where  he  preached.  This  infirmity,  drawn  on  this  aged  man 
by  bachelor  life,  did  not  hinder  him  from  being  a  most  faithful 
laborer  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord ;  but,  to  some  considerable 
extent,  it  did  hinder  his  usefulness  in  building  up  the  Church 
of  Christ.  The  Lord's  truth  was  never  indebted  to  any  man's 
rasp  for  its  success  in  winning  souls  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners. 
To  me  this  was  a  year  of  some  suffering.  My  home  was  in 
West  Middletown,  among  a  kind-hearted  people.  The  circuit 
was  large  and  wealthy,  yet  my  salary  (only  two  hundred  dol- 
lars) was  but  little  more  than  half  paid.  I  felt  this  very  much 
in  the  outset  of  married  life ;  so  did  my  wife ;  but  we  kept  the 
matter  to  ourselves,  and  pondered  it  in  our  hearts.  To  keep 
the  cow  from  starving,  in  the  winter,  I  tried  to  raise  money 
to  buy  provender,  by  the  sale  of  books  out  of  my  own  scanty 
library ;  and  it  would  not  do  to  be  much  at  home,  for  the  cir- 
cuit had  made  no  provision  for  the  subsistence  of  my  horse. 
When  the  year  closed,  I  had  no  clothes  fit  to  go  to  Conference 
in,  and  no  money  with  which  to  buy  any.  So  passed  away  the 
first  year  of  married  life.  It  was  a  year  of  considerable  suc- 
cess; many  sinners  were  converted  and  joined  the  Church.  It 
was  a  year  of  great  mental  conflict.  When  I  saw  the  members 
of  the  Church  at  preaching,  or  heard  them  speak  in  class-meet- 
ing or  love-feast,  or  talk  about  religion  at  home,  I  felt  inclined 
to  admit  their  piety.     But  when  I  thought  of  their  wealth,  and 


INSUFFICIENT    SUPPORT.  Ill 

of  my  poor,  meager,  starvation  salary  not  being  mucli  more  than 
half  paid,  I  was  constrained  to  have  my  doubts  about  it.  But 
in  after  years  my  mind  was  changed  in  relation  to  the  piety  of 
these  people.  I  now  charge  all  this  apparent  parsimony,  as  it 
regards  ministerial  support,  to  their  anti-Gospel  education  on 
that  subject.  The  high  ordination  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
"that  they  which  preach  the  Gospel  shall  live  of  the  Gospel," 
had  not,  at  the  time  of  my  ministry  among  them,  been  properly 
brought  home  to  their  consciences,  as  it  was  in  after  years. 

My  Presiding  Elder,  Rev.  James  Painter — another  old  bach- 
elor— and  my  colleague,  both  found  out  that  I  was  friendly  to 
a  change  in  the  Church  government,  so  as  to  admit  lay  delega- 
tion, and  from  and  after  that  date  they  were  neither  of  them 
very  friendly  to  me.  But  this  made  little  difference,  for  it  was 
a  settled  point  in  my  creed  that  lay  delegation  ought  to  be  in- 
troduced into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  I  knew  that 
all  the  friends  of  that  measure  would  have  to  meet  with  oppo- 
sition, so  my  mind  was  made  up  calmly  to  endure  whatever 
came  upon  me  on  account  of  my  principles.  As  the  year  was 
closing',  many  little  tokens  of  friendship  were  given  me  as  I 
went  my  last  round  on  the  circuit,  and  I  was  kindly  asked  to 
return  the  next  year.  The  Quarterly  Conference,  also,  asked 
the  Elder  to  have  me  reappointed.  But,  as  I  was  going  away 
in  rags  and  in  debt,  without  my  full  pay,  I  made  no  pledges 
that  I  would  return.  In  Washington  I  was  furnished  with 
clothes,  to  be  paid  for  when  I  got  able.  So,  leaving  my  wife 
at  her  father's,  I  went  on  with  the  Western  preachers  to  the 
Conference,  and  we  had  a  very  pleasant  time  together,  as  we 
passed  over  the  mountains.  I  have  always  loved  to  attend  Con- 
ference.    To  meet  the  bretheren  is  refreshing;. 


112  EECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITI^'ERANT   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Conference  in  Baltimore— Appointed  Presiding  Elder  of  Mononoahela  District — 
Effokt  to  Change  the  Manner  of  Appointing  Presiding  Elders— Bishop  McKen- 
dree's  Vindication  op  his  Course  in  the  Preceding  General  Conference— Re- 
moval TO  Washington- Mt  First  Quarterly  Conference— Trip  to  Ohio  with 
Bishop  McKendree— The  Bishop's  Views  on  Church  Polity- My  Views— Confek- 
ENCE  IN  Winchester,  Virginia— Conference  in  Baltimore— Formation  of  Pitts- 
burgh Conference— Failure  in  Health- Recovery— The  New  Lights— The  Bap- 
tists—Camp-Meetings—My First  Public  Connection  with  the  Reform  Movement — 
The  Mutuax  Rights— Bishop  George. 

At  the  Conference  in  Baltimore,  in  Marcli,  1823,  I  was  ap- 
pointed, by  Bishop  McKendree,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Mo- 
nongahela  District.  This  appointment  was  made,  as  I  havo 
reason  to  believe,  with  the  full  knowledge  of  my  principles. 
Daniel  Hett  and  James  Painter,  two  aged  ministers,  both  Pre- 
siding Elders  and  members  of  the  Bishop's  cabinet,  and  op- 
posed to  my  views  as  to  changes  in  Church  government,  did 
certainly  inform  the  Bishop  that  I  took  rank  among  the  re- 
formers. Indeed,  Mr.  McKendree's  whole  course  with  me  aft- 
erward made  me  fully  understand  that  my  principles  were 
known  to  him  when  he  gave  me  that  office.  Whether  he 
meant  this  appointment  as  compensation  for  hard  usage  the 
preceding  year,  or  whether  he  meant  to  win  me  back  again  to 
the  anti-reform  party,  or  whether,  rising  above  all  such  con- 
siderations, he  made  this  appointment  simply  and  alone  for  the 
good  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  I  know  not,  and  it  is  useless  to 
speculate  on  the  subject.  At  any  rate,  I  was,  entirely  contrary 
to  my  expectations,  made  Presiding  Elder,  and,  without  regard 
to  the  motives  leading  to  my  appointment,  I  determined  to  do 
all  I  could  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  the  extension  of  liberal 
ecclesiastical  principles  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
throuerhout  the  Monon"-ahela  District'. 


BISHOP   M'kENDREE's    VINDICATION.  113 

At  tliat  Conference,  we  had  a  very  protracted  and  exciting 
debate  on  Bishop  McKendree's  vindication  of  his  course  at  the 
General  Conference  of  1820.  For  about  twenty  years,  efforts 
had  been  made  at  each  General  Conference,  by  the  liberal 
party,  so  to  change  the  economy  of  Methodism  as  to  authorize 
the  Annual  Conference  to  elect  the  Presiding  Elders,  instead 
of  having  them  appointed  by  the  Bishops,  as  the  law  now  or- 
dained. At  that  General  Conference  the  debate  ran  very  high, 
and  brought  out  all  the  talent  in  that  body.  Finally,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed,  consisting  of  six  members — three  from 
each  party — who  were  to  meet  the  three  Bishops  in  council 
and  draft  a  report  that  would  suit  the  views  of  all  parties. 
A  report  was  drawn  up  and  presented  to  the  Conference,  signed 
by  the  six  committeemen  and  two  of  the  Bishops,  George  and 
Boberts — McKendree  dissented — and  it  received  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  General  Conference,  and  so  became  the  law  of  the 
Church.  .  The  substance  of  that  report  was  as  follows :  When- 
ever, in  future,  a  Presiding  Elder  is  needed  for  any  district, 
the  Bishop,  or  Bishops,  shall  nominate  three  members  of  the 
Conference,  out  of  which  number  so  nominated  the  Conference 
shall  elect  the  Presiding  Elder  wanted.  If  more  than  one  is 
wanted,  the  same  routine  shall  be  observed  in  a  second  and 
third  instance,  and  so  on  until  the  required  number  of  Pre; 
siding  Elders  is  obtained.  In  case  of  a  vacancy  by  death,  or 
any  other  cause,  during  the  year,  the  Bishop  shall  appoint  a 
Presiding  Elder,  whose  term  of  office  shall  expire  at  the  ensu- 
ing Conference.  These  Presiding  Elders,  so  elected  by  the 
Conference,  shall  be  the  advisory  council  of  the  Bishops  iu 
the  stationing  of  the  preachers.  We  only  give  the  substance 
of  the  law. 

Upon  the  passage  of  the  foregoing  law — which  secured  a  little 
liberty  for  the  preachers,  but  none  for  the  people — there  was,  it 
is  said,  much  joy  in  the  General  Conference.  But  it  did  not 
last  long :  the  brethren  were  not  quite  out  of  the  wilderness  into 
the  promised  land  yet.  That  bright  day  was  destined  to  be 
overcast  with  very  dark  clouds,  highly  charged  with  ecclesias- 
tical electricity  and  episc(^pal  thunder.    Bev.  Joshua  Soule,  then 


114  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE, 

elected  to  the  episcopal  office,  but  not  yet  ordained,  immediately 
after  the  foregoing  action,  addressed  a  note  to  Bishop  McKen- 
dree,  in  which  the  following  strong  language  is  held :  "  If  they 
should  ordain  me,  under  existing  circumstances,  I  could  not, 
conscientiously,  carry  the  above-named  resolutions  into  effect,  in- 
asmuch as  I  conceive  them  to  be  an  unconstitutional  transfer  of 
executive  powers  from  the  episcopacy  to  the  Annual  Confer- 
ence."^^ This  note  was  immediately  laid  before  the  General 
Conference  by  Mr.  McKendree,  accomjianied  by  his  own  protest 
against  the  action  of  that  body,  as  being  an  unconstitutional 
transfer  of  episcopal  powers  to  the  Annual  Conferences.  This 
high-handed  measure  of  the  Bishop  and  the  Bishop-elect  led  to 
a  reconsideration  of  the  whole  matter,  and,  finally,  to  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  Presiding  Elder  law  for  four  years.  After  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  Bishop  McKendree  prepared  a  vindication  of 
his  course  to  lay  before  the  Annual  Conferences,  to  get  them 
to  indorse  what  he  had  done.  This  document  was  now^  before 
the  Baltimore  Conference  for  its  approval,  and,  after  having 
been  very  distinctly  read  by  the  secretary,  the  debate  was  com- 
menced by  the  brethren  in  real  earnest,  and  the  excitement  was 
very  high. 

Bishop  McKendree  occupied  the  chair  during  the  debate, 
and  from  the  scathing  manner  in  which  his  vindication  was 
handled  by  Byland,  Griffith,  and  Emory,  I  was  constrained  to 
feel  a  good  deal  of  symj)athy  for  him,  notwithstanding  my  op- 
position to  his  course.  S.  G.  Koezel  and  a  few  others  under- 
took to  defend  his  document,  but,  in  my  judgment,  they  utterly 
failed.  Asa  Shinn  at  last  moved  an  indefinite  postponement  of 
the  resolution  to  approve  of  the  Bishop's  vindication,  which 
motion  was  carried  by  a  very  strong  majority  of  the  Conference, 
and  so  the  matter  ended,  very  much  to  the  mortification  of 
Bishop  McKendree. 

On  returning  from  the  Baltimore  Conference  to  the  West,  I 
removed  from  AVest  Middletown  to  Washington,  so  as  to  situate 
my  wife  among  her  relations  and  other  valued  friends,  for  I  was 

*See  Bev.  J.  Smith's  letter,  Wesleyan  Ke^ository,  2d  vol.,  p.  129. 


MY    FIRST    QUARTERLY    CONFERENCE.  115 

now  in  the  performance  of  official  duties,  destined  to  be  a  great 
deal  from  home.  The  first  quarterly  meeting  I  ever  held,  as 
Presiding  Elder,  was  in  Washington.  On  Friday  evening 
Bishop  McKendree  arrived  in  tawn.  On  Saturday  morning  I 
waited  upon  him,  to  tender  my  respects,  and  know  of  him  at 
what  hours  it  would  suit  h-im  to  preach.  "Without  giving  me  an 
answer,  he  waived  the  conversation,  and  began  to  talk  about 
something  else.  In  a  short  time,  I  told  him  it  would  give  me 
a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to  have  him  name  the  hours  at  which 
it  would  suit  him  to  preach,  as  I  desired  now  to  make  an  ar- 
rangement for  preaching  throughout  the  meeting.  The  Bishop 
then  turned  his  eye  keenly  upon  me,  and  said,  in  a  harsh,  stern 
manner  I  shall  never  forget,  "I  do  not  like  to  see  young  men 
too  presuming."  I  arose,  took  up  my  hat,  and  said  "it  had 
been  my  sincere  desire  to  be  respectful,  and  show  him  that 
courteous  regard  which  I  held  to  be  due  to  age  and  office;  but 
if  he  thought  me  presumptuous,  I  would  retire."  So  I  bade 
him  good  morning  and  left  the  room,  detertiained  to  trouble 
him  no  more.  At  eleven  o'clock,  on  Saturday,  he  sat  in  the 
altar,  while  I  strove,  under  many  embarrassments,  to  preach. 
After  preaching  was  over  we  had  no  conversation  at  all.  At 
three  o'clock  he  returned,  and  presided  in  the  Quarterly  Con- 
ference. When  it  was  over,  he  returned  to  his  lodgings  and  I 
to  my  home,  without  any  conversation,  for  I  was  afraid  to  in- 
troduce conversation  with  him,  lest  I  should  be  considered  pre- 
sumptuous. He  did  not  come  to  meeting  at  night.  On  Sunday, 
at  eleven  o'clock,  I  found  him  in  the  pulpit,  when  I  entered 
the  church,  hunting  his  hymn.  So,  that  morning  he  preached 
and  took  the  lead  in  the  communion  services.  All  that  time 
he  said  nothing  to  me;  but,  as  we  were  going  home,  he  called 
after  me,  and,  when  I  turned  back  to  him,  he  said  he  was  go- 
ing to  leave  for  Ohio  on  Wednesday,  and  wished  me  to  go  witli 
him ;  and,  if  it  would  be  agreeable,  he  would  like  to  dine  at  my 
house  on  Tuesday.  I  assured  him  that  it  would  give  me  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure  to  have  him  dine  with  me  at  the  time 
named.  After  this,  we  had  a  very  considerable  amount  of  pleas- 
ant conversation  together,  and  I  excused  the  Bishop's  behavior 


116  RECOLLECTIONS    OP    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

at  our  first  interview,  under  an  impression  tliat  lie  had  been 
worn  out  traveling,  and  was  yet  smarting  under  the  defeat  of  liis 
measure  at  the  Baltimore  Conference.  On  Tuesday,  according 
to  appointment,  the  Bishop  came  to  dinner,  and  a  very  pleas- 
ant time  we  had,  bating  one  circumstance,  which  was  very  mor- 
tifying to  Mrs.  Brown  and  myself:  there  was  a  toughness  in 
our  chicken  which  no  amount  of  cooking  could  remedy.  On 
that  account  we  regarded  our  dinner  as  being  rather  a  failure. 
We  ought  to  have  had  better  chicken  for  the  occasion,  for  it 
was  intended  as  a  feast  of  reconciliation,  a  confirmation  of 
friendship.  The  Bishop  spent  the  afternoon  with  us,  was  very 
cheerful,  and  gave  me  much  fatherly  counsel  as  to  the  duties 
of  my  office,  and  the  interview  was  closed  with  prayer. 

In  our  trip  to  Ohio,  I  was  with  Mr.  McKendree  about  ten 
days,  and  observed  his  manner  of  life  strictly.  He  read  much, 
prayed  much,  and  was  apt  to  teach,  wherever  he  went,  both  in 
public  and  in  private.  At  first,  I  was  afraid  that  his  temper 
was  irritable,  but  I  found  nothing  of  the  kind  in  him,  save  that 
little  snap  he  gave  me  in  Washington,  and  that  may  have  grown 
out  of  causes  referred  to  above.  One  thing  I  found  to  lie  very 
near  his  heart;  namely,  the  maintenance  of  the  present  order 
of  things  in  the  Church,  as  they  were  handed  down  to  him  from 
Bishop  Asbury.  The  itinerant  general  superintendency  and 
the  present  powers  of  the  itinerant  preachers  must  not  undergo 
any  modification,  by  the  election  of  Presiding  Elders  or  the 
admission  of  lay  delegation.  How  could  a  Bishop  oversee 
("overrule")  this  great  work  without  agents;  i.  e.,  Presiding 
Elders  ?  And  if  theAnnual  Conferences  elected  them,  then  they 
would  be  the  agents  of  the  conferences,  and  not  of  the  Bishops ; 
so  the  Annual  Conferences  would  oversee  the  work  through 
agents  of  their  own,  and  the  Bishops,  who  are  elected  to  super- 
intend, by  the  General  Conference,  would  be  powerless  nullities. 
As  to  lay  delegation,  that  would  be  destructive  to  the  itiner- 
ancy ;  and,  besides  this,  the  itinerant  preachers  were  instru- 
mental in  the  conversion  of  the  membership,  and  had,  therefore, 
a  right  to  rule  them.  Children  ought  not  to  rule  their  fathers  ; 
but  fathers  ought  to   rule  their  children.     The  right  of  our 


MY   VIEWS.  117 

preacliers  to  all  the  power  aud  autliority  tliey  have,  grows  out 
of  the  nature  and  fitness  of  things.  So  taught  the  venerable 
Bishop  McKendree,  in  1823.  He  seemed  to  think  I  needed  in- 
struction, and,  on  all  convenient  occasions,  he  repeated  these  les- 
sons with  fatherly  kindness.  I  never  argued  against  his  views, 
during  our  sojourn  together;  but,  still,  I  had  in  my  own  mind 
the  answer  ready.  AVhen  we  parted,  I  was  strongly  impressed 
with  a  conviction  of  his  honesty,  piety,  aud  intelligence,  but  not 
with  his  arguments. 

The  G-eneral  Conference  elects  the  Bishops  to  superintend  the 
whole  work.  Why  should  not  that  Bishop-creating  body  pass 
a  law  to  create  Presiding  Elders  through  the  joint  agency  of 
the  Bishops  and  the  Annual  Conferences,  as  proposed  by  the 
General  Conference  of  1820,  to  aid  them  in  their  work  ?  This 
joint  authority  in  the  creation  of  Presiding  Elders  would  im- 
ply a  responsibility  of  the  Elders  to  the  Annual  Conferences 
and  Bishops  who  created  them,  and  not  to  the  Bishops  alone, 
as  in  former  years,  and  as  it  is  to  this  day. 

As  to  lay  delegation  destroying  the  itinerancy,  I  held  this  to 
be  an  indefensible  assumption.  Besides,  I  held  then,  and  do 
now,  that  if  itinerancy  can  only  live  on  the  destruction  of  hu- 
man liberty,  it  ought  not  to  live  at  all.  Christianity  can  be 
maintained  in  the  world  consistently  with  human  liberty.  And 
to  say  that  instrumentality  in  conversion  gives  a  right  to  rule, 
looks  like  the  old  doctrine  of  kings  ruling  by  the  right  of  con- 
quest. Moreover,  it  implies  too  much,  for  the  purposes  of  those 
who  bring  it  forward.  According  to  this,  all  the  local  preachers 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  who  are  instrumental  in  the 
conversion  of  sinners  have  a  right  to  rule  them.  This  is  not 
allowed.  Any  pious  old  lady,  who,  by  her  exhortations,  pray- 
ers, and  tears,  might  be  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  a 
philosopher,  would  have  the  right  to  rule  him  as  long  as  he 
lived,  for  the  good  of  his  soul.  After  this  "manner,  in  my  own 
mind,  all  the  Bishop's  ecclesiastical  lessons  were  disposed  of; 
and  I  felt,  on  my  return  to  my  own  field  of  labor,  more  than 
ever,  a  disposition  to  promote  the  lay  delegation  cause. 

In  March,  1824,  the  Conference  was  in  Winchester  Virginia, 


118  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

and  I  was  again  appointed  Presiding  Elder.  In  Marcli,  1825, 
the  Conference  was  in  Baltimore,  and  I  still  was  continued  in 
the  same  office.  That  year,  in  September,  the  Pittsburgh  Con- 
ference, having  been  set  off  by  the  General  Conference  of  182-4, 
held  its  first  session  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  and  again  I  was 
appointed  Presiding  Elder,  making,  in  all,  three  years  and  a 
half  that  I  served  in  that  office.  A  full  account  of  all  that 
transpired  while  in  that  office  can  not  now  be  written.  Only 
such  things  as  memory  has  retained,  or  recollection  can  call  up, 
and  are  deemed  of  interest,  will  be  introduced  to  notice. 

The  hard  service  rendered  in' Washington,  Wheeling,  and 
Short  Creek  charges  made  great  inroads  on  my  health.  During 
nearly  the  whole  time  of  my  presidency  on  the  Monongahela 
District,  that  most  tormenting  of  all  complaints,  the  dyspepsia, 
afflicted  me  sorely.  Every  thing  I  ate  in  a  few  minutes  became 
acid  on  my  stomach,  and  led  to  vomiting;  perspiration  was  ut- 
terly obstructed ;  my  skin  was  nearly  as  sallow  as  a  seed  cucum- 
ber, dry  and  mealy;  my  head  was  hot,  my  feet  were  cold, 
showing  an  unbalanced  circulation  of  the  blood.  I  was  perpet- 
ually harassed  with  a  dyspeptic  colic  ;  there  was  a  giddiness 
in  my  head,  a  ringing  in  my  ears,  floating  phantoms  before  my 
eyes — in  fact,  I  was  a  sick  man.  Still,  I  hung  to  my  horse  and 
filled  my  appointments  on  the  district,  trying,  as  I  went,  all 
the  remedies  prescribed  by  the  physicians,  and  growing  worse 
and  worse.  Finally,  every  doctor  in  my  district,  save  one,  pro- 
nounced sentence  of  death  upon  me,  and  advised  me  to  go  home 
and  set  my  house  in  order,  for  I  could  not  live.  But, Dr. 
Charles  McClean,  of  Morgantown,  Virginia,  was  of  a  different 
opinion.  He  said  life  was  sweet  and  worth  preserving,  and  that 
I  must  not  be  discouraged  by  the  nonsense  of  the  doctors. 
"Come,"  said  he,  "I  will  make  you  a  box  of  blue  pills,  on  the 
plan  of  those  prepared  by  Dr.  Phillips,  which  you  are  to  take 
at  the  rate  of  three  grains  a  day,  for  six  weeks,  then  go  to  Bed- 
ford Springs  a  couple  of  weeks,  and  you  will  get  well  again." 
I  followed  the  Doctor's  advice,  and  though  I  could  not  (because 
of  those  who  were  with  me)  remain  at  the  Springs  but  eight 
days,  I  came  away  measurably  restored  to  health,  and  took  no 


THE    NEW    LIGHTS.  119 

more  medicine  for  twelve  years,  save  once,  and  tliat  was  for  an 
attack,  of  fever.  To  Dr.  McLean,  then,  under  God,  I  certainly 
owe  my  life  ;  and  I  make  this  record  of  tlie  fact,  with  gratitude 
to  him  and  to  the  Lord.  In  the  ecclesiastical  controversy 
which  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  the  Doctor,  who  was  a  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  did  all  he  could  against  me  and  against  the 
cause  I  advocated;  but  still,  I  always  admired  his  talents,  and 
felt  gratitude  for  past  favors,  especially  medical  services. 

A  great  portion  of  the  Monongahela  District,  which  was  very 
large,  was  a  real  battle-ground  between  the  Methodists  and 
other  denominations,  especially  the  New  Lights,  who  denied  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and  the  divinity  of  Christ.  They  held 
that  the  atonement  made  by  Christ  was  a  reality,  and  that  it 
derived  its  value  entirely  from  the  appointment  of  the  Father, 
and  not  from  the  dignity  and  glory  of  the  Godhead  that  dwelt 
in  his  humanity ;  that  Christ,  being  the  Son  of  God,  could  not 
be  eternal,  as  no  son  could  be  as  old  as  his  father;  and  that  no 
man  would  ever  believe  in  the  Godhead  of  Christ,  unless  he 
were  misled  to  do  so  by  a  creed.  Against  creeds  and  disci- 
plines, and  all  forms  of  Church  government,  they  had  much  to 
say;  and  made  sport  of  the  Methodist  preachers  going  about 
with  their  saddle-bags  full  of  disciplines  to  sell.  I  deemed  it 
my  duty  to  rid  my  district,  if  I  could,  of  New-Light  heresy. 
Accordingly,  on  all  convenient  occasions,  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  where  I  traveled,  I  gave  the  doctrines  of  the  Meth- 
odists the  fullest  vindication,  upon  scriptural  grounds,  that  I 
could.  Were  the  Metliodists  Trinitariansf  I  showed  this  doc- 
trine was  found  in  all  parts  of  the  Bible ;  and  though  above 
reason,  it  did  not  contradict  reason ;  for  reason  must  be  able  to 
comprehend  every  possible  mode  of  Divine  existence,  before  it 
could  pronounce,  infallibly,  that  God  could  not  exist  a  trinity 
in  unity.  Were  they  believers  in  the  divinity  of  Christf  I 
showed  from  the  plain  Word  of  God  that  this  doctrine  was  true, 
and  affirmed  that  no  sane  reader  of  the  Scriptures  would  ever 
deny  the  divinity  of  Christ,  unless  he  were  misled  by  some  hard- 
skulled  leader,  whose  teachings  operated  upon  his  mind  with  all 


120  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINEEANT    LIFE. 

tlie  force  of  a  creed.  As  to  the  atonement  being  made  by  a 
mere  creature,  divinely  appointed  to  do  that  work,  and  all  the 
value  of  the  atonement  resulting  from  the  Father's  ajjpointment, 
and  none  of  it  from  the  dignity  of  the  person  who  suffered,  the 
Methodists  held  this  to  be  monstrous.  According  to  this  doc- 
trine, the  Father,  contrary  to  His  own  Word,  had  given  His 
glory  to  another — a  mere  creature — and  ordained  that  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  should  trust  in  a  creature,  and  the  doings  of 
a  creature,  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls.  If  the  Godhead 
of  Christ  gave  no  value  to  the  atonement,  then  why  was  his 
divinity  made  so  prominent  a  part  of  revelation?  My  doctrine 
throughout  the  district  was,  that  the  atonement  derived  its  value 
from  both  the  divinity  of  the  Sufferer  and  the  appointment  of 
the  Father.  To  separate  divinity  from  what  Christ  did  to  save 
the  world,  would  leave  the  world  to  be  saved  by  the  doings  of  a 
creature ;  and  to  call  the  Gentile  nations  off  from  idolatry  to 
trust  in  a  creature,  would  be  idolatry  still.  The  preachers  of 
the  district  over  which  I  presided  were,  generally,  vigorous, 
^talented  young  men,  well  suited  to  the  region  of  country  where 
they  labored;  and  as  we  had  to  win  every  inch  of  the  ground 
we  occupied  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit — which,  of  necessity, 
in  many  instances,  had  to  be  a  controversial  sword — they  came 
manfully  up  to  the  battle  of  the  Lord,  and  the  enemy  had  to 
yield  or  retreat.  There  are  very  few  New  Lights  in  that  dis- 
trict now. 

The  Baptists  also  met  us  at  every  point,  and  resolutely  op- 
posed the  doctrines  of  the  Methodists.  They  were  Calvinists  in 
doctrine,  as  well  as  immersionists  in  practice,  and  went,  with 
all  their  might,  against  the  Methodist  view  of  Christian  perfec- 
tion, and  the  possibility  of  falling  from  grace.  On  all  these 
points  we  gave  them  battle.  Happily  for  us,  they  did  not  oc- 
cupy a  great  deal  of  territory ;  but  where  they  did  exist,  they 
were  generally  pretty  strong  as  to  numbers.  In  Pruntytown, 
they  and  the  Methodists  had  each  a  comfortable  house  of  wor- 
ship, and  their  preaching  was  on  alternate  Sundays.  In  those 
days  there  were  "go-betweens"  to  report  to  each  preacher  what 


THE   BAPTISTS.  121 

the  other  would  say  of  his  doctrines.  On  one  Sunday  the 
Methodist  preacher,  in  his  sermon,  had  handled  the  Baptist 
doctrine  of  the  final,  unconditional  perseverance  of  the  saints 
with  some  severity.  This  was  reported,  by  the  "go-between," 
to  Dr.  Waldo,  the  minister  in  charge  of  the  Baptist  congrega- 
tion, who,  on  the  next  Sunday,  at  considerable  length,  defended 
his  doctrine  in  his  usual  lengthened  tone,  amounting,  when 
greatly  in  earnest,  to  something  like  a  whine.  In  the  course  of 
his  sermon,  as  the  ''go-between"  reported,  he  illustrated  the 
impossibility  of  falling  from  grace,  in  the  following  manner: 
*'  My  dear  brethren,  if  you  only  have  a  desire  to  have  a  desire  to 
be  saved,  you  are  as  sure  of  getting  to  heaven  as  if  you  were 
already  there.  Religion  is  just  like  my  old  raccoon-skin.  The 
other  day  I  brought  an  old  raccoon-skin  with  me  to  town  and 
tried  to  sell  it,  but  I  could  not  sell  it ;  I  tried  to  barter  it,  but 
I  could  not  barter  it ;  I  tried  to  give  it  away,  but  I  could  not 
give  it  away.  I  then  rolled  it  up  in  a  piece  of  newspaper  and 
tucked  it  under  my  arm,  walked  out  into  the  street,  lifted  up 
my  arm  and  tried  to  lose  it,  but  I  could  not  lose  it,  for  there 
was  a  man  just  behind  me,  who  picked  it  up  and  said,  '  Holloa, 
Waldo!  here  is  your  raccoon-skin.'  Just  so,  my  dear  brethren, 
it  is  with  religion:  you  can't  sell  it;  you  can't  barter  it;  you 
can't  give  it  away;  you  can't  lose  it.  If  you  only  have  a  de- 
sire to  have  a  desire  to  be  saved,  you  are  as  sure  of  getting  to 
heaven  as  if  you  were  already  there." 

What  Methodist  could  stand  before  the  logic  of  such  an 
illustration  as  this?  The  citizens  of  Pruntytown  amuse  them- 
selves to  this  day  by  telling  this  'coon-skin  anecdote.  Dr. 
Waldo  was  an  eccentric  wit,  had  a  good  standing  in  the 
community,  and,  from  the  anecdotal  character  of  his  preaching, 
always  drew  a  full  house.  From  my  own  personal  knowledge 
of  the  man,  I  have  no  doubt  of  his  being  now  among  the  saved 
in  that  better  land ;  but  his  witty  'coon-skin  illustration  amounts 
to  nothing.  There  is  no  analogy  between  the  free  mind  of  man 
holding  on  to  or  letting  go  religious  truth  and  the  Doctor's  in- 
ability to  sell,  barter,  give  away,  or  lose  his  raccoon-skin.  If  he 
8 


122  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

had  done  as  much  to  get  clear  of  his  religion  as  he  did  to  dis- 
pose of  his  'coon-skin,  and  had  failed,  then  his  illustration  would 
be  of  some  force;  not  otherwise. 

The  religious  state  of  the  district  was  good  throughout  my 
entire  term  of  service.  In  all  the  circuits  and  stations,  each 
year,  there  were  revivals  and  large  additions  to  the  Church. 
My  district  was  famous  for  its  camp-meetings.  The  lowest 
number  we  held  in  one  camp-meeting  season  was  eight;  the 
highest,  eleven.  These  meetings,  as  a  general  thing,  were 
largely  attended,  and  were  real  working  meetings ;  not  meet- 
ings of  feasting,  parade,  and  show.  God  owned  them  by  the 
advancement  of  his  children  in  scriptural  holiness,  and  in  the 
conversion  of  sinners,  in  great  numbers,  from  the  error  of  their 
way.  Eev.  William  Barns,  of  the  Wheeling  Station,  got  leave 
of  absence  from  his  charge,  and  accompanied  me  (my  health 
being  feeble)  as  a  fellow-laborer  to  the  eleven  camp-meetings 
held  in  one  season,  and  rendered  very  important  service.  He 
is  s,till  a  sojourner  among  men,  and  can  bear  witness  to  the 
success  of  the  Gospel  in  the  conversion  of  sinners  at  the  camp- 
meetings  among  the  hills  of  Western  Virginia  and  Western 
Pennsylvania.  The  day  of  judgment  alone  can  disclose  the 
whole  amount  of  good  that  was  done,  and  how  much  labor  and 
care  devolved  upon  me  at  these  meetings.  To  see  that  order 
was  maintained,  so  as  to  prevent  the  outside  world  from  doing 
harm  to  the  assembled  worshipers,  to  give  a  right  direction  to 
all  the  ministerial  talent  on  hand,  both  local  and  itinerant,  so 
as  to  keep  down  the  little,  petty  jealousies  too  often  found 
among  the  preachers  on  such  occasions,  and  to  employ  the 
whole  force  at  command,  both  ministerial  and  lay,  in  the  labors 
of  the  altar,  so  as  to  bring  as  many  souls  as  possible  to  Christ, 
and  to  continue  this  kind  of  effort  day  and  night,  throughout 
eleven  consecutive  weeks,  was  indeed  labor  and  care  such  as 
few  Presiding  Elders  at  this  day  know  any  thing  about.  The 
state  of  my  health  gave  indications  that  my  career  upon  earth 
would  be  short.  To  be  ready  to  go  into  eternity  at  the  call  of 
the  Lord,  and  to  get  as  many  sinners  as  possible  converted  to 
Christ  before  my  departure,  were  then  the  all-engrossing  objecta 


THE   MUTUAL   RIGHTS.  123 

of  my  life.  Paul  said,  "To  live  is  Christ,  to  die  is  gain."  So 
I  felt  at  that  time,  and,  in  the  midst  of  my  toils,  enjoyed  much 
religious  happiness. 

The  preachers  who  labored  with  me  on  the  Monongahela 
District  have  nearly  all  passed  away,  and,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  learn,  they  died  in  the  faith,  hope,  and  charity  of 
Christianity.  Revs.  T.  M.  Hudson,  C.  Cook,  W.  Barns,  H. 
Furlong,  and  S.  Chaney,  I  believe,  yet  remain,  and,  like  my- 
self, are  far  advanced  in  life.  They  are  excellent  men,  and 
have  been  worth  more  than  thousands  of  gold  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Nearly  all  the  local  preachers  and  promi- 
nent lay  members  who  labored  with  me,  and  at  whose  habita- 
tions I  was  always  made  welcome  and  comfortable,  are  now  on 
the  other  side  of  Jordan — saved  and  crowned,  heirs  of  God, 
and  joint  heirs  with  Christ. 

The  institution  of  the  Mutual  Rights,  in  1824,  in  the  room 
of  the  Wesleyan  Repository;  the  action  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence in  Baltimore,  preceded  by  the  doings  of  the  Baltimore 
Annual  Conference  in  Winchester,  Virginia,  all  had  a  tendency 
to  rouse  the  spirit  of  inquiry  in  the  Church,  on  the  subject  of 
itinerant  supremacy  and  lay  delegation.  At  the  Conference  in 
Winchester,  Beverly  Waugh,  with  some  difficulty,  obtained  leave 
to  read  N.  Snethen's  letter  in  favor  of  lay  delegation.  It  was 
heard  by  that  body  with  mingled  indications  of  favor  and  dis- 
pleasure. Joshua  Soule  read  a  paper  inflicting  some  heavy 
censure  on  John  Emory,  for  certain  statements  made  (if  mem- 
ory serves  me)  by  Emory  and  others,  in  a  pamphlet,  involving 
Soule's  course  at  the  General  Conference  of  1820.  Emory,  in 
the  course  of  his  i*eply,  admitted  the  right  of  the  Methodist 
people  to  a  lay  delegation,  and  said  they  ought  to  have  it,  if 
they  so  desired.  Soule  presided  in  a  caucus  held  by  the  anti- 
reform  party  to  nominate  delegates  to  the  General  Conference, 
and,  in  his  remarks  before  taking  the  chair,  went  against  nom- 
inating any  reformer,  as  the  ancient  order  of  things  must  be 
strictly  maintained.  Accordingly,  Emory,  Waugh,  Shinn,  Ry- 
land,  Davis,  Griffith,  Morgan,  and  others,  known  to  favor  re- 
form— at  least  the  election  of  Presiding  Elders — were  all  left 


124  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

out  of  the  nomination.  That  afternoon,  the  way  being  thus 
prepared,  R.  Birch,  in  a  very  honeyed  speech,  tried  to  bring  on 
the  election,  but  failed.  After  Conference  adjourned,  Emory 
and  Waugh  took  me  with  them  to  a  self-defense  caucus-meet- 
ing of  the  friends  of  ecclesiastical  liberty.  This  was  the  first 
time  I  ever  took  an  open,  public  part  with  the  reformers. 
The  reform  caucus,  of  covirse,  nominated  none  but  reform  can- 
didates for  election  to  the  General  Conference.  When  the  elec- 
tion came  on,  so  well  had  the  other  party  managed,  in  adopting 
their  measures,  that  we  were  defeated  by  a  small  majority. 
This  defeat,  in  connection  with  that  of  the  local  preacher  claim 
to  a  share  in  the  government  of  the  Church,  led  Emory  and 
Waugh,  and  most  of  the  others,  it  is  supposed,  to  abandon  the 
cause  of  reform.  Emory  became  a  Bishop  in  1832,  and  Waugh 
in  1836.  Thus  these  two  men,  who  had  been  my  leaders, 
turned  against  me  and  the  cause  of  Christian  freedom,  and 
grasped  the  episcopal  power  which  they  had  so  long  and  so 
ably  opposed;  "the  march  of  which,"  they  say,  in  their  pam- 
phlet, "  is  ever  onward,  and  its  tremendous  tendency  is  to  ac- 
cumulation." 

But  nothing  within  my  knowledge  spread  the  reform  con- 
troversy like  Bishop  McKendree's  address  in  vindication  of  his 
action  in  arresting  the  Presiding  Elder  law  of  1820.  This  ad-' 
dress  was  carried  round  to  all  the  Annual  Conferences,  in  view 
of  getting  those  bodies  to  justify  his  course,  and  every-where 
it  elicited  debate  among  the  preachers  in  the  Conferences.  Here 
were  high  powers  claimed  by  the  Bishops.  Here  were  preach- 
ers, claiming  the  right,  as  American  freemen,  to  elect  the  Pre- 
siding Elders  who  were  to  rule  over  them.  This  ministerial 
struggle  for  power  waked  up  inquiry  among  the  people  after 
their  rights ;  and,  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  times,  the  periodical 
called  "  The  3Iutual  Rights  of  the  Ministers  and  Mevibers  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church^'  was  instituted  in  Baltimore, 
"edited  by  a  committee  of  ministers  and  laymen." 

On  my  return  from  the  Conference  in  Winchester  to  the 
Monongahela  District,  I  took  time  for  reflection  on  the  state  of 
affairs  in  the  Church,  and  to  determine  what  was  my  duty  in  the 


THE    MUTUAL    RIGHTS.  125 

premises.  The  conclusions  at  wliich  I  arrived  were,  that  I  owed 
very  high  obligations  to  the  Church,  and  to  those  in  authority 
over  me ;  hut  that  my  highest  obligations  were  to  the  truth, 
and  to  the  God  of  truth,  and  that  I  ought  to  obey  God  rather 
than  man.  When  the  Mutual  Rights  appeared,  I  ordered  it  to 
be  sent  to  nearly  all  the  leading  men  of  my  district,  and  paid 
for  it,  in  advance,  out  of  my  own  scanty  funds.  So  that  paper 
was  read  in  all  parts  of  the  district,  privately ;  for  a  time,  even 
the  preachers  were  not  permitted  to  know  any  thing  about  it, 
nor  did  any  one  suspect  my  agency  in  the  matter.  On  the 
subject  of  Church  government,  in  public  and  in  private,  I 
maintained  the  most  profound  silence;  and,  from  the  office  I 
held,  it  was  generally  supposed  that  I  was  unfriendly  to  the 
changes  contended  for,  and  the  periodical  was  kept  very  care- 
fully out  of  my  sight  wherever  I  went.  When  dismounting 
from  my  horse  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Maple,  a  valuable  local 
preacher,  to  whom  I  had  sent  the  paper,  I  heard  sister  Maple 
call  out  to  one  of  the  girls:  "Run,  Sal,  run  J  take  them  Mutual 
Rights  off  the  table;  there  comes  the  Elder."  And  "Sal" 
must  have  taken  and  concealed  them  in  some  by-corner,  for 
they  were  not  to  be  seen  during  my  stay.  So  it  was  in  all 
places,  no  one  being  disposed  to  let  me  know  that  he  read  so 
obnoxious  a  paper  as  the  Mutual  Rights.  All  this  was  very 
amusing  to  me. 

Ultimately  the  readers  of  that  work  became  more  bold,  and 
ventured  to, tell  me  of  its  coming  to  them;  but  by  what  agency 
it  came,  or  how  the  editorial  committee  ever  found  them  out, 
60  as  to  send  it  to  them,  they  could  not  tell.  I  found,  in  every 
instance  but  one,  that  the  work  was  approved  of;  that  lay  del- 
egation would,  in  their  judgment,  be  of  immense  value  to  the 
Church.  As  they  knew  that  I  had  dealings  in  Baltimore,  they 
desired  me  to  receive  and  transmit  the  pay  for  the  Mutual 
Rights  to  the  publishers.  I  took  the  money  and  retained  it, 
having  already  paid  for  the  work  in  advance.  So  I  lost  nothing 
by  my  old  friends,  nor  did  they  find  out,  during  my  time  as 
Presiding  Elder  among  them,  that  it  was  through  my  agency 
the  paper  was  sent   to  them.     Toward  the   latter  part  of  my 


126  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT  LIPE. 

term  of  service  on  the  district,  in  private  conversation,  I  let 
my  friends  know  that  the  lay  delegation  cause  had  my  appro- 
bation; but  in  public  I  still  remained  silent,  not  wishing  to 
create  an  excitement,  or  call  off  public  attention  from  the  higher 
interests  of  the  Christian  religion.  But  information  went 
abroad  by  loaning  the  paper;  the  district  understood  the  lay 
delegation  question  well. 

It  became  known  to  Bishop  George  that  I  not  only  read  but 
circulated  the  Mutual  Rights,  and  it  grieved  him  very  much. 
He  was  a  very  effective  preacher,  of  good  natural  powers  and 
sterling  piety,  but  without  much  literary  culture,  and  had,  for 
many  years,  been  favorable  to  reform,  so  far  as  the  election  of 
Presiding  Elders  went.  But  now,  as  the  Mutual  Rights  had 
given  the  controversy  a  wider  range,  and  had  taken  in  lay  del- 
egation, the  Bishop  held  back,  and  all  his  influence  was  thrown 
against  the  reformers.  Having  brought  me  out  into  the  min- 
istry, and  taken  great  pains  to  shape  my  course  for  usefulness 
in  the  itinerant  ranks,  watching  over  me  as  a  father  would  over 
a  son,  he  took  it  very  hard  that  I  should  be  found  among  the 
reformers,  engaged,  as  he  said,  "in  the  disorganizing  work  of 
striving  to  introduce  lay  delegation."  This  was  no  more  dis- 
organizing than  his  efforts,  in  preceding  years,  to  introduce  the 
election  of  Presiding  Elders. 

On  one  occasion,  while  resting  himself  from  the  toils  of 
travel,  in  Washington,  the  Bishop  invited  Rev.  C.  Cook,  the  sta- 
tioned preacher  of  that  place,  and  myself,  to  take  a  walk  with 
him.  When  we  were  a  little  out  of  town,  he  turned  to  us,  and 
said  he  had  it  on  reliable  authority  that  we  were  both  readers 
of  the  Mutual  Rights,  and  that  we  circulated  that  paper  among 
our  people.  Cook  admitted  that  he  was  a  constant  reader  of  the 
periodical  in  question,  but  denied  any  agency  in  its  circulation. 
I  informed  him  that  I  had  been  a  regular  reader  of  that  paper 
from  the  commencement  of  its  publication,  and  favored  its  doc- 
trines, and,  for  that  reason,  had  ordered  it  to  be  sent  to  a 
number  of  my  friends  on  the  district.  The  Bishop  then  ex- 
pressed great  surprise  that  I  should  do  such  a  thing,  and  won- 
dered how  I,  as  minister  and  Presiding  Elder,  could  reconcile 


BISHOP   GEORGE.  127 

it  with  my  obligations  to  the  Church,  to  be  found  circulating  a 
periodical  among  our  people  which  would  only  agitate  them  to 
their  injury.  It  did  seem  to  me  as  if  he  deemed  my  ministe- 
rial relation  to  the  Church  to  be  an  utter  foreclosure  of  my 
way,  so  that  I  could  not  now,  with  such  obligations  as  an  or- 
dained minister  and  Presiding  Elder  had  assumed  resting  upon 
me,  do  any  thing,  in  any  way,  to  reform  the  government  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  With  this  view  of  the  matter  I 
did  not  agree;  but  I  did  not  attempt  to  argue  the  case  with 
my  old  friend.  I  felt  then,  as  I  do  now,  that  my  highest  ob- 
ligation was  to  God  and  his  truth,  and  that  reformation  in 
Church  government  never  came  from  without,  but,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  must  come  from  within,  and  that  I  was  now  in 
my  proper  place  to  do  all  I  could  for  the  introduction  of  lay 
delegation.  So,  in  mildness,  I  replied  in  about  the  following 
manner :  The  controversy  is  now  up,  the  inquiry  is  now  abroad 
in  relation  to  introducing  lay  delegation  into  the  Church.  The 
day  is  coming  that  will  try  men's  souls.  In  that  day  I  must 
either  act  as  some  hard-headed  leader  may  direct  me,  or  take 
pains  to  be  informed,  by  reading  all  that  is  written  on  both 
sides  of  this  question,  so  as  to  be  able  to  act  on  my  own  best 
judgment  in  the  matter.  Taking  this  view  of  the  subject,  I 
have  been  a  reader  of  the  Mutual  Rights,  and  have  put  that 
work  into  circulation  among  my  people.  "  Bishop  George," 
said  I,  "did  you  ever  read  the  Mutual  Rights?"  "Why,  no," 
said  he;  "but  brother  Roszel  has,  and  he  has  told  me  all  about 
it,  and  he  thinks  it  will  do  a  great  injury  to  the  Church."  I 
then  advised  him  not  to  make  any  further  opposition  to  that 
work  until  he  would  read  it  for  himself.  The  good  Bishop 
was  affected  unto  tears  at  what  he  considered  my  obstinacy, 
and  so  the  conversation  closed,  and  we  returned  to  town.  The 
next  morning,  at  the  Bishop's  invitation,  I  accompanied  him 
on  his  journey  for  several  miles,  during  which  time  nothing 
was  said  on  the  lay  delegation  question.  The  whole  conversa- 
tion turned  on  metaphysical  preaching,  against  which  he  strove 
to  guard  me,  and  requested  me  to  guard  the  preachers  of  the 
district,  as  being  "mere  moonshine  to  the  people."     He  ex- 


128  KECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINEKANT   LIFE. 

pressed  his  fears  that  Rev.  Asa  Shinn's  essay  on  the  Plan  of 
Salvation,  being  so  metaphysically  written,  would  turn  all  the 
preachers  into  hair-splitting  metaphysicians,  and  lead  them  oflf 
from  the  simplicity  of  the  Grospel.  Here,  too,  my  opinion  dif- 
fered from  his.  He  who  addresses  mind  ought  to  understand 
the  laws  of  mind. 


CONFERENCE   IN   WASHINGTON,   PENNSYLVANIA.         129 


CHAPTER   yiTI, 

Conference  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania— Kefokm  Movement— Bishop  IIeddino's 
Address  against  Reform— Reasons  for  Replying— D.  W.  Clark,  D.  D.— Friendly 
Kelations  Existing  between  Bishop  IIeddino  and  Myself— Timothy's  Address 
TO  the  Junior  Bishop— Convention  of  Bishops  in  Baltimore- Bishop  IIeddino's 
Note  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Editorial  Committee  Demanding  Timothy's  Read 
Name— My  Reply,  Surrendering  my  Name— Rev.  H.  B.  Bascom's  Testimony  as 
TO  THE  Truthfulness  of  Timothy's  Address— Similar  Testimony  from  Rev.  John 
Waterman,  Rev.  Asa  Shinn,  Thomas  Morgan,  Esq.,  Ret.  Joshua  Monroe,  Rev. 
T.  M.  Hudson— Reasons  foe  Present  Self-Defense. 

The  Pittsburgli  Conference  held  its  session  in  Washington, 
Pennsylvania,  in  September,  1826,  Bishop  Hedding  presiding, 
and  I  was  appointed  to  Steubenville  Station.  At  that  Confer- 
ence Bishop  Soule  was  in  attendance,  and  Bev.  J.  B.  Finley, 
with  his  two  Indian  chiefs,  Mononque  and  Between-the-logs. 
These  chiefs  lodged  at  my  house,  prayed  in  my  family,  asked 
the  blessing  at  my  table,  prayed  in  the  Church,  and  deported 
themselves,  during  their  stay,  in  all  respects  like  Christian  gen 
tlemen.  I  saw  nothing  light  or  trifling  about  them.  To  me 
they  appeared  to  be  men  of  great  moral  worth  and  real  sub 
stantiality  of  character.  All  their  exercises  were  in  the  Indian 
language,  and  we  had  no  interpreter,  a  matter  much  regretted 
by  us  all.  Finley  said  they  were  men  of  great  mental  vigor 
and  fine  native  eloquence.  They  had  laid  aside*  the  Indian 
garb  and  assumed  the  costume  of  the  whites,  and,  for  plainness, 
appeared  like  two  Methodist  preachers. 

At  this  Conference  the  reformers  were  a  little  in  the  minority 
as  to  numbers,  but  a  little  in  the  maj"ority  as  to  talent.  Dr. 
Bond's  book  had  come  to  hand,  entitled  "An  Appeal  to  the 
Methodists."  Kev.  A.  Shinn  induced  Rev.  T.  Fleming — who 
had  Bond's  book  for  distribution  among  the  preachers — to  hold 
it  back  until  his  review  of  it  should  arrive,  so  as  to  let  both 


130  RECOLLECTIONS    OP   ITINERANT    LIEE. 

books  be  distributed  together.  This  would  give  each  party  an 
equal  chance;  for  among  the  members  of  the  Conference  there 
was,  at  that  time,  a  disposition  to  deal  fairly  with  each  other 
on  the  question  of  reform. 

As  to  myself,  I  did  not  like  to  see  Bishop  Soule  there.  I 
remembered  his  efforts  against  the  reformers,  in  the  caucus, 
during  the  Conference  in  Winchester,  Virginia,  by  which  their 
election  to  the  General  Conference  of  1824  was  defeated.  I 
remembered,  too,  his  opposition,  in  connection  with  Bishop 
McKendree,  to  the  Presiding  Elder  law  passed  by  the  General 
Conference  in  1820,  which  has  already  been  noticed.  At  that 
time  he  was  only  a  Bishop-elect,  not  yet  ordained ;  and  to  avoid 
a  protest  against  his  ordination,  which  his  arbitrary  measures 
had  led  ministers  of  sterling  worth  to  prepare,  he  deemed  it 
wise  and  proper  to  resign  his  position.  But  he  was  elected 
and  ordained  Bishop  in  1824;  and  now,  being  clothed  with  full 
episcopal  authority,  however  much  I  admired  his  talents  and 
trustworthiness  in  all  other  matters,  I  felt  confident  that  reform 
had  nothing  to  hope  from  his  presence  at  that  Conference.  All 
the  reformers  disrelished  his  arbitrary  principles ;  and  it  is  my 
belief  to  this  day,  that,  had  he  not  been  there  to  counsel  and  ad- 
vise Bishop  Hedding,  that  functionary  would  never  have  taken 
the  high  ground  he  did  against  the  lay  delegation  question,  as 
discussed  in  the  Mutual  Rights.     In  this  belief  I  was  not  alone. 

The  business  of  the  Conference  passed  on  smoothly,  and 
greater  harmony  could  not  have  been  expected  in  a  body  so 
divided  in  sentiment,  on  a  subject  so  all-engrossing  as  the  one 
now  demanding  attention.  Mr.  Shinn  and  I,  being  yet  in  the 
Bishop's  cabinet  as  Presiding  Elders,  were  called  to  a  private 
interview  in  my  front  room,  up  stairs,  by  Bishops  Hedding  and 
Soule.  The  two  Bishops  and  Mr.  Shinn  had  dined  with  me 
that  day,  and  the  conversation  had  been  remarkably  pleasant. 
In  that  interview,  the  presiding  Bishop,  Mr.  Hedding,  took  the 
lead  as  chief  speaker,  and  Mr.  Soule  took  his  position  up  in  a 
corner,  and  sat  silent  all  the  time.  So  we  poor  subordinates  had 
to  take,  as  patiently  as  we  could,  a  pretty  long  lecture  on  the 
impropriety  of  our  efforts  to  introduce  lay  delegation.     "  The 


BISHOP    HEDDING   AGAINST   REFORM.  131 

injurious  tendency  of  the  effort" — "The  people  did  not  want 
what  we  were  trying  to  crowd  upon  them" — "Lay  delegation 
would  be  of  no  value  to  them  if  they  had  it" — formed  the 
ground  of  his  lecture.  All  this  time  the  Bishop  never  called 
in  question  our  right  to  discuss  the  points  at  issue  between  the 
parties,  in  the  Mutual  Rights,  but  only  argued  from  supposed 
evils  that  might  result  from  the  investigation. 

At  last  he  put  the  question  to  Mr.  Shinn  direct :  "  Is  it  your 
intention  to  leave  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church?  It  is  my 
duty  to  have  an  answer  to  this  question  before  I  make  out  the 
appointments."  Mr.  Shinn  replied  that  he  had  never  thought 
of  such  a  thing,  nor  had  he  ever  said  to  any  person  that  he 
would  leave  the  Church ;  and  then,  straightening  himself  up 
and  pointing  with  his  finger  at  the  Bishop,  he  said,  in  his  own 
peculiar,  emphatic  way,  "  I  now  demand  of  you,  sir,  to  point 
out  to  me,  in  any  thing  I  have  ever  written,  a  single  sentence 
or  word  that  would  be  a  just  foundation  for  the  question  which 
you  have  now  propounded  to  me."  Mr.  Hedding  said  it  might 
not  be  expressed  in  so  many  words,  but  he  thought  it  was 
clearly  implied,  in  one  or  two  of  Mr.  Shinn's  articles  in  the 
Mutual  Rights.  Mr.  Shinn  then  said  it  was  neither  expressed 
nor  implied,  and  that  no  just  construction  of  any  thing  he  had 
written  would  afford  an  inference  of  that  kind.  "Well,"  said 
Mr.  Hedding,  "  I  am  satisfied  with  your  present  declaration, 
and  can  go  on  with  my  work  and  make  out  the  appointments." 
"  But,"  said  Mr.  Shinn,  "  I  want  you  Bishops  to  understand 
well,  that  if  you  ever  give  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  such  a  direction  as  to  abridge  or  take  from 
me  my  right  of  free  discussion  of  the  reform  question,  in  the 
Mutual  Rights,  or  wherever  else  I  please,  I  will  then  feel  my- 
self bound  to  leave  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  I  never 
will  belong  to  a  Church  that  will  deny  me  the  rights  of  an 
American  freeman."  "0,  well,  well,  well,"  replied  Mr.  Hed- 
ding, "we  have  said  enough  on  the  subject;  let  us  talk  of  some- 
thing else."  Just  at  that  juncture,  the  Presiding  Elders  were 
heard  coming  up  stairs,  and  the  business  next  on  hand  was  the 
stationing  of  the  preachers.     I  have  stated  the  substance,  ae- 


132  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

cording  to  my  best  recollection,  of  what  was  said  by  the  parties 
at  the  foregoing  interview,  and,  on  the  main  points,  I  think  I 
have  given  their  own  words. 

The  next  afternoon  the  Conference  adjourned,  and  just  before 
the  appointments  were  read,  Bishop  Hedding  made  his  cele- 
brated address  against  reform.  So  soon  as  he  was  done,  the 
appointments  were  read;  then  came  the  closing  prayer,  immedi- 
ately after  which,  the  preachers  all  dispersed,  leaving  no  oppor- 
tunity for  any  one  to  reply  to  what  many  of  them  did  most 
highly  disapprove  of  in  that  address.  I  then  and  there  de- 
termined that  I  would  wait  two  months  for  Shinn  or  Bascom  to 
reply,  and  if  neither  of  them  did,  I  would  do  it  myself;  for  I 
did  consider  its  doctrines  inconsistent  with  the  liberties  of  an 
American  Christian. 

It  may  be  proper  in  this  place  to  record  the  fact  that  be- 
tween Bishop  Hedding  and  myself  there  was  entire  friendship. 
I  had  been  his  confidential  secretary.  I  had,  therefore,  no 
wrongs  to  avenge,  when  I  resolved  on  a  reply  to  his  address. 
While  I  respected  him  highly  for  his  piety,  his  talents  as  a 
preacher,  and  his  fine  executive  abilities  as  a  presiding  officer 
in  the  Conference,  I  could  not  respect  his  opposition  to  the  free 
discussion  going  on  in  the  Mufual  Rights  in  favor  of  lay  dele- 
gation. It  was,  then,  nothing  but  a  feeling  in  my  heart  that 
an  aggression  on  our  inalienable  rights  ought  to  be  resisted 
with  all  the  manhood  in  me,  that  moved  me  to  resolve  upon  a 
reply.  For,  to  my  mind,  it  did  appear  that  Church  government 
was  as  open  to  free  discussion  as  any  other  question  under 
heaven.  For  the  Bishops,  Presiding  Elders,  and  itinerant 
preachers  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  have  all  the 
power  in  the  government,  and  the  local  preachers  and  lay  mem- 
bers none  at  all,  was  bad  enough ;  but  for  Bishops,  in  Confer- 
ence addresses,  to  deny  the  right  of  free  discussion,  as  to  this 
order  of  things,  made  the  matter  worse — it  looked   like  slavery. 

After  I  had  removed  to  Steubenville  and  become  comfortably 
situated  among  the  people  of  my  charge,'  I  soon  found  myself 
among  reformers.  In  a  short  time  a  union  society  was  formed, 
and  leading  members  of  said  society  informed  me  that  Rev. 


D.    TV".    CLARK,    D.  D.  133 

Josh.ua  Monroe  advised  this  measure.  Being  pastor  of  the 
flock,  and  wishing  to  do  religious  good  to  all  parties,  I  never 
joined  the  union  society  in  Steuhenville,  nor  attended  one  of 
its  meetings,  nor  did  its  members  wish  me  to  do  so,  lest  I  might 
give  offense  to  those  in  the  opposition.  Time  rolled  on:  the 
two  months  were  out,  and  neither  Shinn  nor  Bascom  had  replied 
to  Mr.  Hedding's  address ;  so  I  made  my  preparations  to  per- 
form that  task.  Already  had  I  compared  my  recollections  of 
objectionable  points  in  the  address  with  those  of  other  brethren 
who  had  faithful  memories,  and  had  fixed,  with  all  possible 
care,  upon  the  ground  to  be  occupied.  Then  Timothy's  Ad- 
dres  to  the  Junior  Bishop  was  written.  No  one  in  Steubenville 
ever  saw  that  piece  in  manuscript,  save  A.  Sutherland,  Esq. 
Knowing  him  to  be  a  sound,  practical  philosopher,  and  a  fine 
critic  on  such  compositions,  I  submitted  the  paper  to  him, 
for  his  judgment.  He  made  no  changes  in  any  part  of  it,  but 
said,  "Publish  it  as  it  is,  or  not  at  all;  but  mind,  if  you  do 
publish  it,  all  the  Bishops  will  be  on,  you."  So,  determining 
to  incur  the  risk  of  whatever  might  come,  I  sent  the  document 
to  the  editorial  committee  for  publication. 

As  in  my  judgment,  Rev.  D.  W.  Clark,  D.  D.,  in  his  Life  and 
Times  of  Bishop  Hedding,  has  done  me  great  injustice,  in  his 
representation  of  what  occurred  before  the  Committee  on  Epis- 
copacy, at  the  General  Conference  in  Pittsburgh,  in  1828,  in 
relation  to  Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop;  and  as  it 
has  pleased  God  to  spare  my  life  to  be  my  own  vindicator 
against  the  injustice  done  me  in  that  work,  I  shall  now  proceed 
to  a  careful  and  candid  examination  of  the  whole  matter,  from 
first  to  last. 

•  In  a  letter  published  in  the  Mutual  Rights,  immediately  after 
the  statements  of  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy  had  appeared  in 
the  New  York  Advocate  -which  statements  were,  I  suppose,  re- 
lied on  by  Dr.  Clark — and  then  again  in  a  paper  published  in 
Dr.  Jennings's  Exposition  in  1831,  but  written  at  an  earlier  date, 
I  did  aim,  briefly,  in  each  paper,  to  shield  myself  from  the  in- 
jury intended  me  by  the  publication  in  the  Advocate.  But  I 
suppose  the  Doctor  never  saw  what  I  had  written;    or,  if  he 


134  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

did,  it  miglit  not,  in  his  judgment,  have  suited  his  purposes  in 
exalting  the  Bishop's  character,  and  in  giving  him  a  triumph 
over  all  his  opposers.  Bishop  Hedding  saw  what  I  had  written 
in  my  own  defense,  for  he  told  me  so  himself,  when  he  was  at- 
tending the  General  Conference  in  Cincinnati,  in  1836;  nor  did 
he  mention  any  thing  wrong  in  those  articles.  Our  conversation 
was  free  and  full  on  the  old  controversy ;  and,  in  conclusion,  we 
both  agreed  that  peace  was  best.  So  we  renewed  our  friendship, 
and  he  and  a  few  of  his  New  England  friends  dined  with  me, 
at  my  own  house,  on  the  Sabbath  day,  he  having  fixed  the  time 
himself;  saying,  when  he  did  it,  "  The  better  day,  the  better 
deed;"  and  he  introduced  me  to  his  friends  as  his  son  Timothy, 
and  they  all  indulged  in  much  pleasantry  on  that  occasion. 
When  dinner  was  over,  the  Bishop  read  a  chapter  and  prayed 
with  us  and  for  us,  and  for  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
that  it  might  be  useful  and  prosperous  in  all  the  land.  And 
we  then  parted  in  peace  and  friendship,  expressing  our  hopes  of 
meeting  in  heaven.  Bishop  Hedding  is  now  no  more  seen 
among  men;  and  I  am  sorry,  indeed,  that  Dr.  Clark  has  made  it 
necessary  for  me  to  vindicate  myself  against  any  statements 
made  by  him  in  relation  to  the  old  controversy  with  a  man  be- 
tween whom  and  myself  the  hatchet  was,  as  I  supposed,  buried 
forever. 

The  following  is  "Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop:" 

"I  humbly  trust  you  will  not  be  offended,  if  an  obscure 
brother,  a  minister  of  that  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  of 
which  you  are  a  superintendent,  shall  venture  to  address  you  on 
a  subject  in  which  he,  at  least,  feels  deeply  interested.  I  al- 
lude, sir,  to  the  address  in  opposition  to  reform,  which  you  de- 
livered to  the  members  of  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference,  in 
Washington,  Pennsylvania,  in  September  last. 

"  When  you  came  to  our  Conference,  every  eye  that  saw  you 
was  pleased;  your  appearance  prepossessed  the  people  in  your 
favor;  your  public  ministrations  were  gratefully  received  by  the 
citizens ;  and  your  manner  of  conducting  the  business  of  the 
Conference  gave  general  satisfaction  to  the  preachers.     So  far, 


timothy's  address  to  the  junior  bishop.       135 

all  went  well ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  deep  and  sorrowful  regret 
that  any  thing  should  have  occurred  by  which  your  popularity 
should  suffer  the  least  diminution.  But  so  it  was,  and  you 
ought  to  know  it.  Many  of  our  most  distinguished  preachers 
did  feel  most  serious  objections  to  the  address  which  you,  very 
unexpectedly,  took  occasion  to  deliver,  just  before  the  appoint- 
ments were  read.  It  did  seem  to  the  reformers  as  if  you  had 
taken  advantage  of  the  Conference  to  broach  a  subject,  on  that 
occasion,  which  the  preachers,  for  peace'  sake,  had,  in  their  Con- 
ference capacity,  never  thought  proper  to  meddle  with ;  and  you 
gave  no  opportunity  for  any  one  to  reply. 

'■'■  Puhlic  men  and  public  measures,  in  a  country  liJce  otirs, 
will,  most  undoubtedly,  be  scrutinized  by  a  thousand  eyes ;  and, 
under  an  entire  conviction  that  you  believe  your  measures  to  be 
correct,  and  are  therefore  willing  to  submit  them  to  public  scru- 
tiny, I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  in  this  public  way. 
With  your  person  I  have  no  quarrel.  I  admit  your  piety;  I 
allow  your  talents  to  be  respectable ;  it  is  your  address  alone 
with  which  I  am  now  concerned. 

"  You  opposed  our  preachers  taking  any  part  in  the  discussions 
of  the  'Mutual  Rights;'  you  opposed  our  members  in  Church 
fellowship  having  any  thing  to  do  with  that  work.  You  supported 
your  opposition  by  two  arguments;  viz.,  that  the  '  Mutual  Rights' 
would  agitate  the  Church ;  that  the  change  called  for  by  the  re- 
formers would  never  be  brought  about,  because  it  was  not  de- 
sired by  one  in  twenty  of  our  people.  You  then  gave  us  an 
advice  to  be  still,  and  say  nothing  until  we  got  upon  the  floor 
of  the  General  Conference,  for  there,  and  there  alone,  ioas  the 
proper  place  to  discuss  such  subjects.  Such  was  your  opposition, 
such  your  arguments,  and  such  the  advice  which  you  gave  on 
that  occasion,  to  all  of  which  I  shall  take  the  liberty,  in  a  plain, 
yet,  I  hope,  respectful  way,  to  make  my  objections. 

"I.  You  opposed  our  traveling  preachers  taking  any  part  in 
the  discussions  of  the  Mutual  Rights.  This  was  to  have  been 
expected.  You,  perhaps,  too  easily  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  preachers  would  favor  the  views  of  the  Bishops;  would 
support  their  enormous  power  and  prerogatives ;  that  they  would, 


136  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

of  course,  be  unfriendly  to  a  liberal  diflFusion  of  light  on  the 
subject  of  Church  government  among  our  people ;  that  they, 
consequently,  would  take  no  part  in  the  discussion  of  such  mat- 
ters in  any  way.  But  when  you  found  your  mistake ;  when  mat- 
ters of  fact  demonstrated  to  you  that  many  of  our  best  preachers 
thought  that  our  Bishops  had  too  much  power  and  the  people 
too  little,  and  that  the  Bishops  and  preachers  would  do  well  to 
divide  their  power  and  prerogatives  with  the  laity  and  local 
preachers ;  when  you  saw  that  our  preachers  would  write  and 
publish  their  sentiments  to  the  world  on  these  subjects,  then,  I 
say,  it  was  to  have  been  expected  that  you  would  exert  all  your 
power  and  influence  against  them.  You  were  pleased  to  inform 
the  Conference  that  '  it  never  had  been  your  practice  to  enter 
upon  public  discussions  of  such  matters  anywhere,  save  on  the 
floor  of  the  General  Conference.'  You  most  undoubtedly  had  a 
right  to  observe  this  kind  of  secrecy,  even  on  the  floor  of  the 
General  Conference,  if  you  chose;  but  does  this  go  to  prove 
that  it  will  be  wrong  for  your  brethren  in  the  ministry  to  act 
difierently? 

"Whatever  your  practice  hitherto  may  have  been,  whatever 
your  opinions  now  may  be,  it  matters  not.  When  delegates  are 
to  be  chosen  to  represent  their  brethren  and  the  interests  of  our 
Zion  in  the  General  Conference,  to  make  laws  that  may  be  binding 
on  us  and  on  our  children,  free  men  will  speak  and  write — they 
will  communicate  their  ideas  to  one  another.  All,  in  fact,  whose 
persons,  property,  or  character  are  to  be  in  the  least  affected 
by  those  laws  when  made,  should  claim  it  as  their  inalienable 
right  to  discuss  such  subjects  privately — aye,  and  in  public, 
too — long  before  the  sitting  of  the  General  Conference ;  for 
then  it  might  be,  in  many  instances,  entirely  too  late  to  arrange 
business  prudently  and  discuss  important  questions  with  suc- 
cess. 

"  Is  there  any  thing  sinful  in  the  investigations  carried  on  in 
the  Mutual  Rights?  I,  for  one,  am  not  convinced  that  there 
is.  Surely,  it  is  not  sinful  to  call  the  attention  of  our  brethren 
to  a  subject  of  vital  importance  to  the  future  interests  of  our 
Zion.     It  is  not  sinful  for  any  man  to  search  after  truth.     It  is 


TIMOTHY'S   ADDRESS   TO    THE   JUNIOR   BISHOP.  137 

not  sinful  to  spread  the  trutli  abroad  by  every  fair  incaus.  It 
is  not  sinful  to  take  every  justij&able  step  to  obtain  a  well  bal- 
anced form  of  Church  government.  And  if  Bishops  and  travel- 
ing preachers  should  have  to  resign  a  little  of  their  power  in 
favor  of  our  members  and  local  preachers,  even  this  would  not 
be  sinful.  Nor  is  it  sinful  for  our  traveling  preachers  to  labor 
to  bring  this  thing  about. 

"  Is  there  any  thing  dishonorable  in  those  investigations,  that 
our  traveling  preachers  should  abstain  from  them  ?  Make  this 
appear,  and  I  contend  no  longer.  But  this  you  can  never  do. 
All  the  measures  pursued  by  the  editors  of  the  Mutual  Rights 
are  honorable;  nothing  hidden,  nothing  dark.  They  spread  what 
they  have  to  say  before  the  whole  Church,  on  the  pages  of  their 
miscellany ;  and  they  give  their  brethren  of  the  old  side  a  con- 
tinued invitation  to  state  their  arguments  in  favor  of  the  present 
order  of  things.  In  short,  it  is  holy,  it  is  honorable,  to  seek 
our  rights.  It  is  equally  so  to  give  our  people  theirs.  'As  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them,  for 
this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets.' 

"  Is  the  great  law  of  love  violated  by  our  traveling  p»reachers 
taking  part  in  those  discussions?  If  you  think  so,  show  us 
wherein,  and  I  will  abandon  the  Mutual  Rights  at  once.  He 
who  sins  against  the  law  of  love,  wrongs  his  own  soul ;  and  to 
bring  about  a  change  in  our  Church  government,  by  injuring  our 
souls,  would  be  infinitely  foolish.  But  you  certainly  will  not 
attempt  to  say  that  the  law  of  love  was  consulted  when  our 
Church  government  was  formed,  or  tliat  it  is  by  that  law  that 
you  Bishops  and  we  ti'aveling  preachers  have  all  the  power 
and  the  people  none  !  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that,  were  the 
law  of  love  consulted,  and  suffered  to  have  unobstructed  sway 
over  all  our  hearts,  the  point  would  be  gained,  the  government 
would  be  duly  balanced,  and  all  parties  then  ought  to  be  satis- 
fied. To  conclude  this  point :  if  it  be  allowable  to  all  to  inves- 
tigate the  principles  of  our  Church  government,  it  must  be  the 
privilege  and  duty  of  the  preachers  to  take  part  in  the  investi- 
gation as  soon  as  any  others;  and  if  it  be  not  our  privilege  nor 
our  duty,  let  us  go  back  to  Mother  Church  again,  that  she  may 
9 


138  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

feed  us  with  a  Latin  mass  and  a  wafer  god,  until  we  die,  without 
a  question  asked  or  an  answer  given. 

"II.  You  opposed  our  members  in  Cliurcli  fellowsliip  having 
any  thing  to  do  with  the  Mutual  Rights.  Were  you  afraid 
that,  by  reading  that  work,  they  would  understand  their  rights, 
and  take  measures  to  obtain  them?  According  to  the  New 
Testament,  the  ministry  and  the  membership  were  together  in 
deciding  the  great  question  at  Jerusalem  respecting  circum- 
cision; in  electing  a  successor  to  Judas;  in  furnishing  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  with  deacons.  According  to  Mosheim's  Church 
History,  the  people  were  the  source  of  ecclesiastical  power  dur- 
ing the  first  century;  and  for  the  first  three  centuries  the  minis- 
try and  the  membership  were  together  in  making  and  executing 
the  laws  of  the  Church.  The  ministry  soon  found  means  to 
lessen  the  power  of  the  membership  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  but 
a  thousand  years  had  rolled  away  before  a  single  Pope  ever  sat 
in  St.  Peter's  Church  at  Rome  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
people.*  The  die  was  then  cast;  the  liberties  of  the  people 
were  gone ;  princes  held  the  Pope's  stirrup,  suffered  him  to  set 
his  foot  on  their  necks,  and  even  kissed  his  great  toe.  No 
wonder  our  people  should,  with  this  march  of  power  before 
them,  start  from  their  slumbers  and  inquire  for  their  rights. 
Human  nature  is  still  the  same,  and,  if  not  well  watched,  will 
do  now  as  it  did  in  former  years. 

"  I  think  it  is  pretty  clear,  from  Moor's  Life  of  Wesley,  that 
Dr.  Coke  exceeded  his  authority  in  the  affair  of  a  third  ordi- 
nation, and  in  taking  to  himself  and  Mr.  Asbury  the  name  of 
Bishop.  The  forming  a  Church  government  which  gives  all 
ecclesiastical  power  to  the  ministry  was  a  bold  step.  But 
Bishops  stop  not  here;  the  creation  of  Presiding  Elders,  who 
are  the  special  agents  of  Bishops,  has  given  them  a  degree  of 
power  over  the  whole  Church  which  really  looks  alarming.  And 
now  four  of  our  Bishops  divide  the  whole  work,  in  these  United 
States,  between  them,  and  our  Senior  Bishop  is  arched  over  the 
whole.     What  does  this  look  like?     In  fifty  years  power  has 

*  See  Wesley's  Notes  on  Bevelations. 


timothy's  address  to  the  junior  bishop.      .139 

marcliecl  further  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  than  it  did 
in  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  primitive  Church;  and  yet, 
with  all  these  facts  before  you,  the  people  are  admonished  to 
abstain  from  reading  the  Mutual  Rights,  and  to  let  such  inves- 
tigations alone!     GOD  FORBID. 

"Reverend  sir,  I  want  you  carefully  to  examine  whether  it  be 
not  the  privilege  of  all  people,  under  whatever  form  of  govern- 
ment they  may  live,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  to  examine 
into  and  understand  the  principles  of  those  goveriiments  as  fully 
as  possible ;  and  whether  such  an  examination  is  not  essential  to 
our  being  good  members  of  any  community;  and  whether  our 
pronouncing  our  government  to  be  good,  before  we  have  ex- 
amined its  principles,  is  not  altogether  premature;  and  whether 
a  mutual  interchange  of  ideas  between  the  members  of  such  a 
government  might  not  be  necessary;  and  whether  to  think, 
speak,  write,  print,  and  read  be  not  the  birthright  of  every 
freeman;  and  whether  our  nation  does  not  appear  to  under- 
stand it  so,  in  the  arguments  for  and  against  the  alteration  of 
the  constitution;  and  whether  any  but  despotic  rulers  have 
aught  to  fear  from  such  investigations. 

"  We  should  be  more  inexcusable  than  the  members  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  the  rise  of  Popery,  if  we  were  to  suffer  our 
spiritual  rulers  to  enslave  us.  We  have  many  advantages  un- 
known to  them,  particularly  the  printing-press.  What  a  bless- 
ing this  has  been  to  the  world!  what  a  scourge  to  wild  and 
lawless  ambition ! 

"To  me  it  does  appear  to  be  a  duty  which  we  owe  to  the 
glorious  Author  of  our  holy  religion,  to  our  fellow-citizens,  and 
to  posterity,  to  discuss  this  subject  before  the  whole  Church, 
that  the  slumbering  sons  of  our  Zion  may  be  roused  and  kept 
awake,  with  an  attentive  eye  fixed  on  the  stealing  march  of 
ecclesiastical  power.  We  have  seen  what  the  Christian  Church 
was  in  its  origin.  We  have  seen  what  it  grew  to  in  process  of 
time.  The  people  trusted  too  much  to  the  goodness  and  infal- 
libility of  the  ministry;  and  the  preachers,  seeing  this,  took  ad- 
vantage of  it,  and  went  on  increasing  their  own  power,  until 
the  Church  was  ruined.     Let  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


140  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITES^ERANT    LIFE. 

take  warning.  The  wreck  of  one  fallen  Cburcli  now  covers  the 
world,  and  what  has  happened  to  the  Church  of  Rome  may 
happen  to  us,  if  we  are  not  careful,  vigilant,  prayerful,  and  res- 
olute. 

"I  think  it  particularly  my  duty,  since  no  one  else  has  done 
it,  to  hold  up  the  attempt  which  you  made  against  the  rights 
of  a  whole  Conference,  and,  through  them,  against  the  rights 
of  a  whole  people — any  one  of  whom  would  look  as  well  med- 
dling with  your  undoubted  rights,  as  you  did  with  theirs.  I  do, 
sir,  think  it  my  duty  to  hold  your  conduct  up  to  public  view, 
that  all  men  may  know  what  a  genuine  friend  to  the  rights  of 
man  you  are,  and  how  entirely  republicanism  governs  all  your 
movements.  The  fame  of  this  transaction  shall  float  on  the 
winds  of  heaven,  and  the  generations  yet  unborn  shall  hear  the 
wondrous  deed.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  wheresoever  our  his- 
tory is  known,  there  shall  this  thing  be  mentioned,  for  a  mem- 
orial of  Methodist  Episcopal  dictation  ! 

"  But  we  return  to  your  arguments.  You  oppose  the  Mutual 
Rights,  and  you  give  as  a  reason  for  so  doing  that  its  discus- 
sions will  agitate  the  Church.  If  by  agitating  the  Chui'ch  you 
mean  that  by  reading  the  Mutual  Rights  a  state  of  confusion, 
of  tumult  and  clamor  will  be  produced,  I  think  this  may  be 
guarded  against.  Let  those  who  write  be  temperate  and  ra- 
tional, and  so  will  those  be  who  read ;  for  the  feelings  of  the 
reader  are  not  apt,  in  general,  to  rise  higher  than  those  of  the 
writer.  We  do  not  wish  to  enlist  the  boisterous  passions  of  our 
people.  We  make  our  appeal  to  sober  sense;  we  stand  before 
the  bar  of  human  reason  to  have  our  claim  tried.  We  have  as 
much  to  fear  from  angry  2'>assions  as  our  old-side  brethren. 
What  blind,  impetuous  passion  would  never  do  for  us,  we  think 
enlightened  reason  will ;  so  that  to  agitate  our  people  to  their 
injury  is  not  our  aim.  If  by  agitating  our  people  you  mean 
that  the  Mutual  Rights  will  make  them  think  for  themselves; 
will  rouse  them  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  our  Church  gov- 
ernment; will  excite  them  to  ask  of  the  General  Conference 
their  long-neglected  rights,  I  own  that  the  Mutual  Rights  will 
have  such  a  tendency.     And  does  this  tendency  of  that  work, 


timothy's  address  to  the  junior  bishop.       141 

this  kind  of  agitation  in  our  Cliurcli,  alarm  you?  Is  even  sober 
inquiry,  on  the  part  of  oiir  people,  so  terrifying  to  our  Junior 
Bishop?  0,  my  dear  sir,  let  your  present  palpitations  teach 
you,  if  nothing  else  will,  that  all  is  not  right  in  our  Church 
government;  and  that  to  assuage  your  fears,  you  must  lessen 
your  power.  Nothing  is  more  alarming  to  men  in  your  situa- 
tion than  even  a  just  reaction  of  public  feeling.  Still,  you 
oppose  the  Mutual  Ilights,  for  fear  of  agitating  the  people. 
Did  Luther,  and  Calvin,  and  Zuingle,  and  their  coadjutors,  feel 
the  force  of  this  argument?  Did  they  abandon  their  holy  en- 
terprise for  fear  of  disturbing  His  Holiness  in  St.  Peter's  chair, 
for  fear  of  agitating  the  Church  of  Rome  ?  No,  verily,  they  did 
not;  nor  will  we. 

"I  am  inclined  to  think  that  no  branch  of  the  Christian 
Church  has,  for  several  centuries,  been  in  such  a  dilemma  as 
ours.  We  are  in  a  strait  between  two — between  'agitating' 
the  Ghurch,  on  the  one  hand,  (if  calm  discussion  will  agitate,) 
and  the  bold  march  of  ecclesiastical  power  on  the  other.  If 
we  let  power  march  on,  the  Church  is  ruined.  If  we  attempt, 
by  our  investigations,  to  arrest  it  in  its  course,  the  Church,  it 
seems,  will  be  'agitated.'  Under  a  conviction  that  there  is 
some  analogy  between  the  natural  and  the  moral  world;  that, 
as  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  tide  has  a  tendency  to  purify 
the  ocean,  and  that,  as  thunder-storms  tend  to  purify  the  at- 
mosphere which  surrounds  our  earth,  so,  also,  does  the  agi- 
tating of  the  great  political,  ecclesiastical,  philosophical,  and  re- 
ligious questions,  by  which  the  attention  of  the  community  has, 
now  and  then,  been  arrested,  tend,  more  or  less,  to  political, 
ecclesiastical,  philosophical,  and  moral  purity.  Under  a  convic- 
tion of  these  things,  I  have  been  led  to  adopt  my  present 
course,  with  a  fixed  determination  to  be  troublesome  to  lovers 
of  power  and  prerogative  so  long  as  I  live._ 

"  Your  eflTorts,  sir,  at  the  close  of  the  Conference,  to  silence 
our  investigations,  and  to  tie  us  down  to  the  present  order  of 
things,  were  of  no  ordinary  character.  Your  office  gave  you 
influence,  and  you  put  forth  all  your  strength.  Your  efi"ort 
spoke  volumes-     It  seemed  to  say,  'Let  our  power  and  prerog- 


142  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERANT    LITE. 

atives  alone ;  let  the  people  get  to  their  burdens ;  what  have 
they  to  do  with  making  laws?  To  obey  is  enough  for  them — 
aye,  and  more  than  they  are  willing  to  perform.  We  will  not 
let  this  people  have  their  liberty ;  if  we  do,  they  will  only  abuse 
it.  We  rule  them  by  a  divine  right,  which  ought  not  to  be 
examined  or  called  in  question.  What  do  we  care  for  Mos- 
heim's  account  of  the  ancient  order  of  things?  The  ministry 
have  all  the  power  in  the  whole  heaven  and  earth  of  Methodism, 
and  they  ought  to  keep  it  unimpaired,  and  baud  it  down  to  their 
successors.  The  preachers  ought  to  say  nothing  before  our  peo- 
ple, for  they  share  our  power  with  us ;  let  the  people  alone — do 
not  "agitate"  them.  Political  liberty  is  desirable;  but,  in  eccle- 
siastical affairs  the  preachers  are  always  supposed  to  be  before 
the  people,  and,  therefore,  have  a  right  to  rule  them,  by  laws  of 
their  own  making.'  What  a  lover  of  republican  principle  you 
must  be !  Surely  no  man  in  his  senses  would  agitate  the  Church 
for  the  purpose  of  changing  this  very  agreeable  order  of 
things ! ! ! 

''You  told  the  Conference  that  not  one  in  twenty  of  our 
brethren  desired  a  change;  therefore  no  change  would  be  given. 
Granted.  Let  us  have  no  alterations  in  our  government  until  they 
are  desired  by  the  people,  provided,  our  people  shall  have  had 
proper  opportunities  to  be  suitably  informed  on  the  subject. 
The  reformers  do  not  pretend  that  we  are  yet  ripe  for  a  change, 
but  they  do  insist  upon  it  that  we  are  ripe  for  examining  the 
subject  in  the  light  of  open  day;  and  if  light  can  be  cast  upon 
the  subject,  so  that  our  people  may  see  their  rights,  and  ask  for 
them  in  a  respectful  way,  we  hope  you  will  have  the  goodness 
to  yield  them.  You  say  the  people  shall  not  have  their  rights, 
because  they  do  not  want  them.  This  seems  to  say  they  shall 
have  their  rights  when  they  do  want  them.  Thank  you,  sir, 
for  this  concession  in  the  people's  favor. 

"  Time  was  when  not  more  than  one  in  twenty  wanted  Ju- 
daism; wanted  Christianity;  wanted  the  reformation;  wanted 
Methodism.  The  odds  against  all  these  was  fearful;  but  the 
work  went  on,  because  it  was  of  God.  And  so,  I  hope,  will  the 
glorious  enterprise  in  which  we  are  engaged.     So  soon  as  our 


timothy's  addkess  to  the  junior  bishop.       143 

Chureli  shall  become  sufficiently  enlightened  in  lier  ministry  and 
membership  as  properly  to  appreciate  and  understand  her  rights, 
an  overruling  Providence  will  make  our  Zion  free,  and  not  before. 

"  But,  my  dear  Bishop,  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  can  not 
agree  with  you  when  you  say  not  more  than  one  in  twenty 
desire  reform.  You  may  sincerely  think  so,  because  you  have 
not  the  means  of  knowing  any  better ;  you  do  not  read  the  Mu- 
tual Rights.  Wherever  you  go,  old-side  men  surround  you. 
They  flatter  you  into  the  belief  that  reformers  are  very  scarce 
indeed.  On  the  contrary,  reformers,  knowing  they  have  very 
little  to  expect  from  men  in  power,  silently  pass  along,  and  you 
know  them  not;  they  have  no  desire  to  provoke  your  opposi- 
tion by  declaring  themselves  reformers.  If  all  such  were  known, 
I  am  inclined  to  think  you  would  change  your  opinion,  and 
mention  another  number — say  one-fourth — and  they  on  the  in- 
crease from  day  to  day. 

"  As  to  your  advice  to  '  be  still  and  say  nothing  until  we  stand 
on  the  floor  of  the  General  Conference,'  I  can  only  say  that  the 
delegates  for  that  body  are  yet  unknown,  and  perhaps  ai-range- 
ments  may  be  made,  by  caucusing  or  otherwise,  to  leave  reform- 
ers all  at  home.  The  like  has  been  heard  of*  In  such  an 
event,  are  we  to  be  kept  out  of  General  Conference  by  strat- 
agem, and  forced  into  silence,  too?  This  will -be  very  hard 
indeed.  A  few  such  attempts  have  been  made.  They  succeeded, 
and  a  few  more  will  make  a  new  Church.  Brethren  ought  to 
be  above  stratagem  when  they  select  their  delegates.  Surely, 
we  are  far  gone  after  the  mother  of  harlots  when  we  can  practice 
pious  frauds !  Every  honest  man  should  abandon  the  Church  as 
lie  would  abandon  a  sinking  ship,  so  soon  as  she  detei'mines  on 
carrying  her  measures  by  trick,  stratagem,  or  pious  fraud.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Episcopacy  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
these  things.  If  they  do,  I  here  advertise  them,  that  they,  and 
not  the  reformers,  must  bear  the  blame,  if  commotions  shall 
ensue. 

"Perhaps  you  will  say,  'Cease  to  write  for  the  Mutual  Rights; 

*  Witness  the  Baltimore  Conference  at  Winchester,  1824. 


144  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

cease  to  circulate  and  read  that  work,  and  tlien  we  will  abandon 
our  stratagems,'  etc.  And  are  old-side  men  serious  iu  asking 
us  to  abandon  our  undoubted  rights  before  they  will  refrain 
from  a  systematic  course  of  trick  and  stratagem?  I  hoj^e  not. 
It  is  our  right  to  read  the  Mutual  Rights,  and  to  write  for  its 
pages,  if  we  choose.  It  is  not  the  right  of  old-side  brethren  to 
deal  unfairly,  to  use  trick  and  management,  so  as  to  defeat  our 
election  to  the  Greneral  Conference. 

"I  shall  conclude  by  making  two  observations  more  on  your 
bold  invasion  of  our  rights.  And,  first,  this  opposition  of  yours 
looked  bad,  as  coming  from  a  Bishop.  Many  advocates  for  the 
high-handed  measures  of  men  iu  power  no  doubt  thought  ex- 
tremely well  of  the  course  which  you  adopted  on  that  occasion. 
Perhaps  you  had  consulted  with  them,  and  were  influenced  by 
them  in  all  you  did.  If  so,  it  would  have  been  well  for  you  if 
your  friends  in  council  had  been  a  little  less  impetuous,  and  a 
little  more  under  the  influence  of  sober  sense.  You  can  not  fail 
to  know  that  the  power  of  the  Bishops  is  one  principal  bone  of 
contention  between  reformers  and  old-side  men,  and  that,  so  far 
from  producing  any  eflfect  favorable  to  your  views,  you  would 
exhibit  yourself  to  all  present  as  a  man  pertinaciously  cleaving 
to  power,  authority,  and  prerogative.  Every  reformer,  at  least, 
and  perhaps  old-side  brethren,  too,  must  have  felt  the  following 
sentiments  spontaneously  rising  in  their  minds;  viz.:  the  Bishop 
has  some  fears  for  his  power,  or  why  all  this  exertion  against 
reform?  Bishops  and  traveling  preachers  have  all  the  power  in 
the  government  of  our  Zion,  and  this  address  plainly  says  that, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  or  otherwise,  they  mean  to  keep  it.  A 
love  of  power  always  marches  onward,  crying  '  Give !  give  !'  And 
men  of  great  prerogatives  are  rarely  known  to  yield  them  in 
order  to  secure  the  general  welfare.  In  short,  sir,  your  hand 
seemed  to  be  against  every  man  whose  hand  might  be  against 
the  episcopal  and  ministerial  power  of  the  Church.  You  took 
your  stand  against  all  who  would  ask  you  for  Christ's  sake,  for 
the  Church's  sake,  for  peace  sake,  to  let  some  of  your  eccle- 
siastical power  fall  into  other  hands. 

"I  observe,  in  the  last  place,  that  your  policy  was  unsound: 


timothy's  address  to  the  junioe,  bishop.       145 

you  injured  yovir  own  cause;  you  helped  ours.  Yes,  reverend 
sir,  though  you  thouglit  of  no  such  thing,  neither  came  it  into 
your  heart;  yet,  in  delivering  your  address,  you  certainly  did  a 
very  important  service  to  the  cause  of  reform.  The  mind  of 
man  is  naturally  free;  it  can  not  be  forced  to  surrender  even 
its  errors,  much  less  its  undoubted  rights.  You  only  made 
reformers  more  determined  than  they  were  before  in  pursuing 
their  glorious  enterprise.  You  made  others  first  sympathize  with 
them,  then  go  over  to  the  reformers.  I  could  give  their  names. 
According  to  the  unalterable  laws  of  human  nature,  the  sym- 
pathies of  mankind  will  always  be  on  the  side  of  the  injured 
and  oppressed,  when  such  are  contending  amid  many  difficulties 
for  their  native  rights.  Permit  me,  then,  to  inform  you,  sir, 
that  the  reform  will  go  on,  it  will  succeed.  Its  germinating  prin- 
ciple can  not  be  destroyed :  the  attempt  has  been  made  again 
and  again,  in  various  places  which  we  could  name,  and,  instead 
of  injuring,  such  attempts  have  uniformly  advanced  our  cause. 
I  have  no  advice  to  give  you,  except  it  be  that  you  urge  all  the 
other  Bishops  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  Conference  address 
opposition  against  reformers — aye,  and  all  the  Presiding  Elders, 
too — and  if  you  can  get  all  the  old-side  preachers  who  have 
charge  of  circuits  and  stations  to  join  with  you,  so  .much  the 
better  for  us.  The  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  the  Lord,  shall 
defeat  your  own  designs,  shall  work  for  our  good.  Opposition 
will  keep  alive  debate,  and  will  wake  up  slumbering  thousands 
to  habits  of  sober  inquiry  after  truth.  They  again  will,  as 
freemen  always  should,  communicate  it,  as  they  learn  it,  until 
in  reference  to  our  Church  government  we  shall  all  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  us  free. 

"I  conclude  as  I  began,  without  any  quarrel  against  your 
person,  talents  or  piety ;  and  if  I  have  been  severe,  I  hope  you 
will  pardon  me,  and  so  will  the  public,  when  they  remember 
that  I  write  on  no  ordinary  occasion.  Our  liberties  had  been 
touched,  and  manly  resistance  was  deemed  to  be  indispensably 
necessary.  Very  respectfully,  yours,  etc., 

"  Timothy, 

"November,  1826." 


146  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

The  question  may  well  be  asked,  why  did  Bishop  Hedding 
deliver  the  address  to  which  the  foregoing  is  a  reply?  He 
acted  in  that  case  either  as  a  Christian  minister  or  as  an  execu- 
tive officer  of  the  Church.  If  he  acted  as  a  Christian  minister, 
then  where  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  can  a  single  text  be  found 
to  justify  a  Christian  Bishop  in  an  effort  to  obstruct  the  right 
of  free  discussion,  by  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Church 
over  which  he  presides,  of  the  propriety  and  importance  of  a 
change  in  the  government  so  as  tonntroduce  lay  delegation?  No 
such  text  can  be  found;  Scriptural  authority  is  wanting.  If  he 
acted,  in  delivering  that  address  to  the  Conference,  as  an  execu- 
tive officer  of  the  Church,  then  what  law  of  the  Church  was  he 
executing?  No  law  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  can  be 
found  binding  it  on  Bishops  to  deliver  addresses  to  the  Annual 
Conferences  in  opposition  to  a  free  discussion  of  ecclesiastical 
questions.  "Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop"  was 
written  because,  in  his  heart,  the  writer  did  believe  that  no  law 
of  Church  or  State,  human  or  divine,  did  justify  the  Bishop's 
address  in  opposition  to  the  free  discussion  of  the  lay  repre- 
sentation question.  To  "oversee,"  according  to  Bishop  McKen- 
dree's  doctrine,  meant  to  "overrule;"  yet  this  "overseeing"  and 
"overruling"  should  be  according  to  the  Scriptures  and  the 
laws  of  the  Church ;  otherwise,  episcopal  action  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  despotism. 

When  the  address  to  the  Junior  Bishop  appeared  in  the  Mu- 
tual Eights,  Rev.  Timothy  Merrit  rode  fifteen  miles  (as  Bishop 
George  informed  me,  in  1827,)  to  show  it  to  Mr.  Hedding. 
After  reading  it  carefully  through,  he  laid  it  down,  and  said, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  "  Now,  Timothy,  I  am  done.  Grod  knows 
I  never  did  want  to  be  a  Bishop."  I  had  drawn  legitimate  in- 
ferences from  Mr.  Hedding's  points  of  opposition  to  reform, 
which  gave  him  great  pain,  and  afforded  me  no  pleasure,  but  a 
just  defense  of  a  righteous  cause  demanded  that  these  infer- 
ences should  be  drawn.  No  monarchical  aristocracy  was  ever 
yet  reformed  without  giving  pain  to  men  in  power ;  and  reform- 
ers have  always  been  made  to  suffer  by  those  in  authority. 

Not  long  after  this  there  was  a  convention  of  the  Bishops  in 


CONVENTION    OF    BISHOPS  IN    BALTIMORE.  147 

Baltimore.  What  the  object  of  the  convention  was  I  can  not 
say,  as  its  designs  and  doings  were  never  made  public.  But 
certain  things  followed  which  may  have  been  devised  and  ar- 
ranged in  that  convention.  The  case  of  Rev.  D.  B.  Dorsey — • 
who,  for  recommending  the  Mutual  Rights  to  a  friend,  had 
fallen  under  the  displeasure  of  the  authorities — was  to  be  man- 
aged. A  plan  was  to  be  laid  to  crush  the  Mutual  Rights  or 
expel  its  editors.  The  real  name  of  the  author  of  Timothy's 
Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop  was  to  be  demanded.  No  doubt 
as  fixed  a  determination  at  that  time  existed  among  the  Bishops 
to  crush  the  lay  delegation  movement  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  as  did  exist  among  the  Jewish  high-jDriests  to  crush 
Christianity  in  its  origin,  by  the  crucifixion  of  its  Author.  The 
high-priests  failed  of  their  object,  and  Christianity  was  spread 
through  the  nations.  So,  the  Bishops  failed  to  effect  their  ob- 
ject, and  lay  delegation,  after  severe  persecution,  has  found  a 
home  in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  where  its  practical 
utility  is  fully  demonstrated.  The  principle  is  from  God,  who 
made  all  men  for  freedom  in  the  Church  as  well  as  in  the  State. 
This  principle  now  acts  in  the  inside  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  as  a  powerful  leaven,  not  easily  removed;  and  on 
the  outside  by  a  very  strong  pressure,  derived  in  part  from  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  but  mainly  from  American  re- 
publican feeling.  That  Church,  to  save  herself  from  rinnous 
convulsions  and  divisions,  will  yet  have  to  adopt  lay  delegation. 

As  God  intends  out  of  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles  to  make 
one  Church,  when  the  Jews  embrace  Christianity,  so  I  think  he 
will  out  of  the  Episcopal  and  Protestant  Methodists  make  one 
free  and  powerful  Church,  when  our  Methodist  Episcopal  breth- 
ren embrace  lay  delegation.  But  before  that  event  occurs,  the 
old  warriors  on  both  sides  will  all  be  gathered  to  their  fathers ; 
none  but  a  new  race  will  be  found  worthy  to  enter  into  the  land 
of  promise,  and  enjoy  all  the  immunities  of  a  free  ecclesiastical 
government.  Here  and  there  a  Caleb  and  a  Joshua  may  be 
found  on  each  side  of  this  controversy — men  of  great  virtue  and 
long  life,  who  will,  at  the  end  of  about  forty  years,  go  up  and 
possess  the  land. 


148  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

The  following  is  the  note  of  Bishop  Hedding  to  the  chairman 
of  the  Editorial  Committee,  demanding  the  proper  name  of  the 
author  of  Timothy's  Address,  etc. 

"  Baltimore,  April  6,  1827. 
"  Reverend  and  Dear  Sir  : 

"  There  is  a  pj'ece  in  the  '  Mutual  Rights,'  vol.  iii,  page 
108,  entitled,  '  Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop,'  etc., 
which  I  consider  unjust,  a  misrepresentation  throughout  of  an 
address  I  made  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  and  a  vile  slander 
on  my  character.  My  object  in  addressing  you  as  one  of  the 
Editorial  Committee  of  that  work  is  to  request  of  said  com- 
mittee, through  you,  the  proper  name  of  the  author  of  said  ad- 
dress, whose  signature  is  '  Timothy.'  You  will  oblige  me  by 
giving  me  the  names  of  the  committee.  Please  send  your  an- 
swer to  Mr.  John  T.  Kepler's  as  early  as  convenient,  at  furthest 
in  this  week. 

"Respectfully,  yours,  etc., 

'•  Elijah  Hedding. 
"Rev.  Dr.  S.  K.  Jennings." 

It  may  be  justly  doubted  whether,  in  the  excitement  of  the 
times,  Mr.  Hedding  fully  weighed  the  meaning  of  his  note  de- 
manding my  name.  It  affirms  of  my  "piece"  three  things: 
First,  the  "piece,"  in  all  its  parts,  is  "unjust."  Secondly, 
throughout  every  line  and  every  sentence  of  my  "piece,"  it  is  a 
"misrepresentation"  of  his  "address."  Thirdly,  the  whole  of 
my  "piece,"  taken  together,  is  "a  vile  slander"  on  the  Bishop's 
"character." 

I  had  represented  Mr.  Hedding  as  opposing  the  lay  delega- 
tion reform,  as  discussed  in  the  Mutual  Rights.  But  in  his 
note  he  affirms  that  my  entire  "piece"  is  "unjust,  a  misrepre- 
sentation throughout,  and  a  vile  slander  on  his  character." 
Now,  if  this  be  so,  it  will  clearly  and  logically  follow  that  ho 
did  not  oppose  reform,  as  advocated  in  the  Mutual  Rights,  at 
all,  and  that  it  is  "  injustice,  misrepresentation,  and  vile  slan- 
der" to  say  he  did.  Of  course,  too,  it  would  follow,  from  his 
note,  that  the  Bishop  was  a  very  great  friend  to  the  lay  dele- 


REPLY   TO    BISHOP    HEDDIXg's    NOTE.  149 

gation  movement  of  that  day,  and  by  no  means  opposed  to  the 
discussion  of  that  question  in  the  Mutual  Rights. 

The  Bishop  did  not  mean  all  this,  yet  his  very  strange  note 
very  fairly  affords  these  inferences.  His  note  sounds  like  the 
clarion  of  war.  My  name  is  demanded — if  we  judge  from  the 
tone  of  the  note — not  for  argument,  but  for  punishment.  The 
spirit  of  his  epistle  is  quite  belligerent,  and  seems  to  lack  the 
meekness  and  gentleness  of  Jesus,  together  with  exact  truth,  as 
we  shall  see  hereafter. 

The  Editorial  Committee  declined  surrendering  the  name  of 
the  author  of  Timothy's  Address  until  they  had  time  to  for- 
ward Mr.  Hedding's  note  to  me,  and  receive  my  answer.  On 
the  receipt  of  that  note,  I  felt  profoundly  amazed  that  a  Chris- 
tian Bishop,  now  that  the  dark  ages  had  passed  away,  should 
write  in  such  a  harsh  and  warlike  manner.  My  calculation 
was,  that  I  shoiild  immediately  be  arrested  and  tried  in  an 
ecclesiastical  court  for  my  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop.  So, 
resolving  to  meet  the  case  squarely,  and  in  a  Christian  spirit,  I 
surrendered  my  name.  The  following  letter  was  written,  on 
that  occasion,  to  the  chairman  of  the  Editorial  Committee  : 

'•Steubenville,  April  15,  1827. 
"  Dear  Brother: 

"  Your  communication  of  the  6th  inst.  now  lies  before  me. 
You  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  make  known  to  Bishop  Hedding 
the  proper  name  of  the  author  of  Timothy's  iVddress.  I  have 
no  time  for  consultation  with  any  of  the  reformers  in  this  re- 
gion, but  my  judgment  is  in  accordance  with  yours,  as  to  the 
propriety  of  giving  the  name.  Timothy's  Address  is  all  my 
own,  in  matter,  form,  language,  etc.  As  to  its  being  unjust,  a 
slanderous  misrepresentation  of  the  Bishop's  address  to  the 
Pittsburgh  Conference,  that  remains  to  be  made  out  hereafter. 

I  have  a  letter  from  brother ,  who  heard  the  Bishop's 

address,  giving  my  paper  his  unqualified  approbation;  another 
from  brother ,  to  the  same  effect,  only  he  thinks  Timo- 
thy's remarks,  in  some  places,  a  little  too  satirical ;  another 
from  brother  ,  agreeing  precisely  with   the  others — all 


150  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

members  of  tlie  Conference.  In  short,  no  brother  of  either 
side  who  heard  the  Bishop's  address,  and  has  read  Timothy, 
has  ventured  to  say  (that  I  have  heard  of)  that  my  piece  con- 
tains any  thing  unjust,  slanderous,  or  in  the  form  of  misrepre- 
sentation. 

"  My  reliance  is  on  Grod  and  the  Pittsburgh  Conference, 
Surely  you,  my  dear  brother,  will  not  easily  believe  that  I 
slandered  the  Bishop,  when  I  was  aware  that  seventy-five 
preachers  could  with  one  voice  contradict  me  if  I  did;  at  least 
1  could  not,  without  having  lost  my  senses  first,  and  I  think  I 
was  sane  when  that  address  was  written.  I  shall  need  support- 
ing grace,  that  I  may  meet  this  trial  in  the  spirit  of  a  Chris- 
tian and  a  reformer.  I  do  not  intend  to  go  back  from  what  I 
have  written,  unless  the  Conference  shall  clearly  convince  me 
that  I  misunderstood  the  Bishop.  I  know  not  what  is  before 
me,  but  am  of  the  opinion  that  even  the  sufferings  of  those 
who  labor  in  liberty's  holy  cause  will  be  glorious  in  the  eyes 
of  the  American  people.  If  I  ftill,  do  you  stand  to  your  posts, 
and  God  will  be  with  you ;  and  let  us  all  commit  ourselves  to 
his  keeping,  as  unto  a  faithful  Creator. 

"  George  Brown. 
'Dr.  S.   K.  Jennings." 

The  Editorial  Committee  at  that  time  deemed  it  proper  to 
withhold  the  names  of  the  brethren  referred  to  in  the  foreffo- 

o 

ing  letter.  A.  Shinn,  H.  B.  Bascom,  and  T.  M.  Hudson  are 
the  men — all  good  witnesses  in  such  a  case. 

Here,  then,  was  full  liberty  given  to  the  Editorial  Commit- 
tee to  surrender  my  name,  and  it  was  accordingly  done,  as  the 
following  note  will  show: 

"Baltimore,  Maij  2,  1827. 

"Reverend  and  Dear  Sir: 

"  According  to  our  promise,  made  7th  of  April,  we  have  cor- 
responded with  the  brother  who  forwarded  the  '  piece '  published 
in  the  Mutual  Rights,  entitled  '  Timothy's  Address  to  the  Jun- 
ior Bishop,'  and  have  obtained  for  answer  that  we  are  at  per- 
fect  liberty    to    make    known   to   Bishop   Hedding   the   proper 


REV.  H.  B.  BASCOM'S   TESTIMONY.  '151 

name  of  the  author  of  Timothy's  Address.  We  therefore  now, 
with  all  cheerfulness,  inform  you  that  the  Rev.  George  Brown, 
of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  is  the  author. 

"Respectfully  yours,  etc., 

"S.  K.  Jennings, 
"  Chairman  Editorial  Committee  Mutual  Rights. 
"Rev.  E.  IIedding." 

Here,  then,  over  our  own  names,  through  the  medium  of  the 
Mutual  Rights,  Bishop  Hedding  and  I  were  brought  before  the 
public  in  open  conflict:  he  charging  me  with  injustice,  mis- 
representation, and  vile  slander,  and  demanding  name ;  and  1 
giving  up  my  real  name,  in  expectation  of  all  the  pains  and 
penalties  of  which  he  might  be  able  to  prove  me  worthy  in  an 
ecclesiastical  court.  If  such  a  court  had  been  called  by  the 
Bishop,  or  his  proxy,  I  was  always  ready  to  answer  to  his 
charges  and  meet  my  responsibilities.  To  call  me  out,  in  so 
public  a  manner,  and  under  so  foul  a  charge,  and  then  give  me 
no  chance  for  a  hearing  before  a  legally  constituted  Church 
court,  so  as  to  relieve  myself  from  the  infamy  which  his  note 
to  the  committee  had  heaped  upon  me,  was  neither  kind,  fair, 
nor  just.  Why  did  the  Bishop  do  this  thing?  Having  pub- 
licly charged  me  with  doing  him  injustice,  misrepresenting,  and 
slandering  him,  would  not  moral  justice  require  him  to  make 
that  charge  good  before  a  proper  tribunal,  or  else  withdraw  it 
altogether  ?  The  charge,  with  all  its  blackness  and  darkness, 
was  left  hanging  upon  me,  and  I  was  never  brought  to  trial. 
Why  was  this?  I  strongly  suspect  that  the  Bishop  had  his 
doubts  about  being  able  to  prove  against  me,  by  any  witnesses 
to  be  found  within  the  bounds  of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference, 
the  charge  of  injustice,  misrepresentation,  and  vile  slander;  so, 
he  cautiously  avoided  a  legal  investigation. 

In  this  state  of  suspense,  to  shield  my  reputation,  I  requested 
Revs.  H.  B.  Basoom  and  John  Waterman  to  say,  through  the 
Mutual  Rights,  without  consulting  me,  what  they  thought  of 
the  truthfulness  of  Timothy's  Address.  The  following  is  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Bascom.     (See  Mutual  Rights,  vol.  iii,  p.  274.) 


152  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

"To  THE  Editorial  Committee: 

'■'■Gentlemen — L  have  been  recently  favored  -witli  a  copy  of 
Bishop  Heddiug's  letter,  of  the  6th  inst.,  to  the  chairman  of 
the  Editorial  Committee  of  the  Mutual  Rights,  demanding  the 
real  name  of  the  author  of  Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  together  with  a 
request  from  the  writer  of  Timothy  that  I  would  say  to  you, 
■without  consulting  him,  what  I  think  of  the  accuracy  of  his 
address  and  the  correctness  of  Bishop  Hedding's  letter.  With- 
out the  least  hesitancy,  therefore,  I  sit  in  haste  to  report  to 
you  what,  at  this  distance  of  time,  is  my  recollection  of  the 
case.  I  heard  the  address  of  Bishop  Hedding  with  great  in- 
terest, and  not  without  some  alarm,  apprehensive  that  it  might 
lead,  as  the  present  state  of  things  evinces,  to  unpleasant  eon- 
sequences.  Some  time  after,  I  saw  Timothy's  Address.  I  read 
it  with  great  care,  and  in  view  of  the  probable  effect  it  would 
have  upon  the  public  mind.  My  impression  then  was,  and  it 
remains  unchanged,  that  every  thing  material  in  the  address 
was  correctly  reported.  I  have  conversed  with  many  preach- 
ers who  were  present  when  the  address  was  delivered,  and  who 
have  read  Timothy,  and  they  all  agree  that,  so  far  as  matter 
of  fact  is  concerned,  the  writer  will  be  sustained  in  his  state- 
ments. I  have  the  opinion  of  several  preachers  decidedly  op- 
posed to  reform — and  among  them  Presiding  Elders — who  think 
the  charge  of  injustice,  misrepresentation,  and  slander  against 
Timothy  will  result  more  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  plaintiff 
than  the  defendant  in  this  affair.  Bishop  Hedding  is  respect- 
able for  worth  and  talent,  and  so  is  the  writer  of  Timothy,  and 
I  regret  exceedingly  the  present  misunderstanding  between 
them;  but  it  would  seem  'offenses  must  needs  come.'  In  the 
present  instance,  I  confine  myself  to  my  recollection  of  the 
facts,  without  deciding  '  by  whom  the  offense  cometh.' 

"One  thing  I  am  certain  of:  that  any  high-handed  authori- 
tative attempt  to  sujjpress  or  discourage  free  inquiry,  on  the 
subject  of  Church  government,  in  this  Conference,  will  be  re- 
sisted with  the  great  weight  of  its  talent  and  a  large  number 
of  its  members.     Beformers,  so  far  as  I  know  them,  are  willing 


REV.  JOHN  waterman's   TESTIMONY.  153 

to  incur  the  usual  tax  laid  on  reformers  in  Churcli  autl  State 
(the  displeasure  and  hard  speeches  of  the  reigning  ministry) ; 
but  when  this  opposition  extends  to  persecution  and  legal  disa- 
bility, my  impression  is,  they  will  assert  their  rights  with  be- 
coming firmness.  If  they  are  put  down,  it  must  be  by  argument 
and  fair  discussion,  and  I  have  heard  the  principal  ones  among 
them  repeatedly  declare  that  they  consider  the  use  of  any  other 
weapons  of  warfare  cowardly  and  disgraceful,  and  in  this  opin- 
ion it  is  likely  the  good  sense  of  mankind  will  concur.  Thus, 
gentlemen,  you  have  my  statement,  and  when  it  becomes  nec- 
essary my  name  shall  be  forthcoming. 

"  A  Member  oe  the  Pittsburgh  Conference." 

The  following  testimony  of  Rev.  John  Waterman,  who  was 
not  in  Conference  when  Bishop  Hedding  delivered  his  address, 
is  chiefly  valuable  as  reporting  faithfully  what  other  members 
of  the  Conference  reported  to  him: 

"  To  THE  Editorial  Committee  : 

^^  Dear  Brethren — I  have  just  seen  a  copy  of  Bishop  Bed- 
ding's letter,  addressed  to  you,  demanding  the  name  of  the  au- 
thor of  an  address  to  him,  signed  Timothy.  I  am  not  a  little 
surprised  that  the  Bishop  should  say  that  Timothy  has  mis- 
represented him  throughout,  and  that  it  is  a  vile  slander.  I 
was  not  in  the  Conference  at  the  time  when  the  Bishoj)  ad- 
dressed the  brethren  on  the  subject  of  reform;  but  this  address 
was  immediately  reported  to  me  by  men  of  intelligence  and 
faithful  memories,  who  gave  me  to  understand  that  the  Bishop 
had  recommended  to  the  preachers  not  to  agitate  the  subject 
of  Church  government  among  the  people,  and  not  to  support 
the  Mutual  Bights.  He  said  that  the  Greneral  Conference  was 
the  place  to  discuss  these  subjects;  that  he  was  friendly  to  re- 
form so  far  as  the  election  of  Presiding  Elders,  and  no  further ; 
that  the  liberty  called  for  by  the  reformers,  in  the  Mutual 
Rights,  could  not  be  granted,  for  many  reasons,  one  only  of 
which  he  stated,  and  that  was,  the  people  did  not  want  it. 
Since  Timothy  appeared,  I  have  frequently  conversed  with 
10 


154  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

preacliers  of  different  sentiments  on  Churcli  politics,  and  have 
never  heard  Timothy  charged  with  misrepresenting  the  Bishop. 
"I  have  lately  heard  two  Presiding  Elders,  both  old-side 
men,  say  that  they  thought  the  Bishop's  address  improper,  and 
an  infringement  on  the  liberties  of  the  brethren;  and  one  of 
them,  a  man  of  science,  concluded  by  saying  that  he  had  in- 
tended to  have  addressed  the  Bishop  himself  on  the  impropri- 
ety of  his  Conference  address,  if  Timothy  had  not  done  it." — 
Mutual  Rights,  vol.  iii,  p.  27-i. 

This  "man  of  science"  was  Kev.  Charles  Elliott.  So  Mr. 
Waterman  informed  this  writer,  at  the  Conference  in  Steuben- 
ville,  in  1827.  Dr.  Elliott,  now  the  editor  of  the  Central  Chris- 
tian Advocate,  is  the  gentleman  alluded  to,  and  there  is  at  least 
one  witness  living  who  heard  him  say  the  same  thing.  From 
this  I  infer  that  the  Bishop's  address  was  a  little  too  strong 
for  his  own  friends.  No  wonder,  then,  that  the  friends  of  re- 
form had  their  objections  to  it.  Had  it  been  a  political  ad- 
dress, delivered  by  some  high  officer  of  the  civil  government, 
in  the  hearing  of  Bishop  Hedding,  no  doubt  he  would  have 
stood  in  the  front  rank  of  objectors,  and  sounded  the  alarm 
that  our  civil  rights  were  in  danger.  But  I  infer  from  the  do- 
ings of  the  clergy  in  all  past  ages  that  the  right  of  free  discus- 
sion is  as  valuable  to  the  Church  as  it  is  to  the  State,  and  that  it 
is  as  much  my  duty  to  advocate  free  discussion  in  the  Church 
as  it  is  in  the  State,  for  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  "Jerusalem 
which  is  above  is  [or  should  be]  free." 

How  changed  are  things  now  from  what  they  once  were ! 
So  far  as  I  am  informed,  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  all  the 
Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  are  in  favor  of 
discussing,  in  all  their  Church  papers,  the  propriety  of  intro- 
ducing lay  delegation.  May  be  our  sufferings  have  helped  to 
gain  the  people  this  liberty. 

The  following  testimonials  were  sent  to  me  in  Steubenville, 
and  were  afterward  published  in  the  Mutual  Eights : 


TESTIMONY   OF   REV.    ASA   SIIINN.  155 

REV.    ASA   SHINN's   TESTIMONY. 

"Dear  Brethren: 

"  I  am  pre^oared  to  testify  that,  at  the  close  of  our  last  Pitts- 
bui-gh  Annual  Conference,  Bishop  Hecldiug  did  deliver  an  ad- 
dress in  opposition  to  reform;  that,  in  my  judgment,  he  did 
take  advantage  of  reformers  on  that  occasion,  and  gave  no  one 
an  opportunity  to  reply;  that  he  did  oppose  our  preachers 
and  people  having  any  thing  to  do  with  the  discussions  of  Mu- 
tual Rights,  and  stated  his  opinion  that  the  time  of  General 
Conference  was  the  only  proper  time  to  discuss  such  subjects; 
that  he  did  say  lay  delegation  was  inexpedient,  inasmuch  as 
our  members  in  general  did  not  desire  it ;  and  that  he  did 
advise  us  to  be  quiet,  and  let  such  subjects  alone,  until  we 
should  get  on  the  floor  of  the  General  Conference,  where  we 
should  have  a  full  right  to  express  our  sentiments  and  argu- 
ments, either  verbally  or  in  writing." 

This  testimony  is  full  and  clear,  and  to  the  point  in  every 
particular.  Such  a  witness,  so  high  in  intellect,  so  unimpeach- 
able in  moral  and  religious  character,  would  be  deemed  worthy 
of  credit  in  any  court  under  heaven.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  preceding  witnesses. 

We  will  now  introduce  the  testimony  of  a  lawyer  of  Wash- 
ington, Pennsylvania,  who  had  heard  Bishop  Hedding's  ad- 
dress, and  had  read  Timothy.     Thomas  Morgan  is  his  name. 

"  Dear  Sir  : 

"  While  I  feel  extreme  regret  that  any  thing  has  transpired 
which  can,  in  however  remote  degree,  require  a  statement  from 
me,  under  the  circumstances  to  which  I  have  referred,  yet,  when 
reputation  is  at  stake,  it  would,  it  appears  to  me,  be  a  fastidious 
and  reprehensible  delicacy  and  in  violation  of  the  golden  rule, 
'Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  they  should  do  unto  you,'  to  with- 
hold the  statement  you  require.  In  unequivocal  terms,  there- 
fore, I  do  not  for  a  single  moment  hesitate  to  attest  that,  in  my 
opinion,  Timothy  has  not  treated  Bishop  Hedding  unjustly, 
misrepresented  or  slandered  him  in  the  statement  of  facts." 


156  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Mr.  Morgan,  I  believe,  is  still  living,  and  is  a  gentleman  of 
higli  standing  in  the  community — every  way  qualified,  by  intel- 
ligence and  moral  character,  to  be  a  competent  witness  in  such 
a  case. 

REV.  JOSHUA  Monroe's  testimony. 

"  I  was  present  at  the  Conference  in  Washington  when 
Bishop  Hedding  addressed  the  preachers  on  the  subject  of  re- 
form. I  have  also  read  '  Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior 
Bishop,'  and,  after  a  calm  deliberation,  I  think  I  am  prepared 
to  say  that,  if  I  understand  the  meaning  of  ■  terms,  Timothy  has 
fairly  represented  the  Bishop's  adclress,  and  has  done  him  no 
injustice,  and  is  not  guilty  of  slander,  unless  plain  truth  bears 
that  appellation." 

Mr.  Monroe  is  still  living,  and  has  been  in  the  ministry  over 
fifty  years.  He  now  holds  a  superannuated  relation  to  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference,  and  has  a  first-rate  moral  and  ministerial 
standing  among  his  brethren.  His  testimony  would  be  taken 
in  any  court. 

testimony  op  rev.  thomas  m.  hudson. 
"Dear  Brother: 

"  In  reply  to  your  inquiries,  I  have  only  to  say  that  I  was 
present  and  heard  Bishop  Hedding's  address  in  Washington. 
I  have  read  'Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop,'  and  am 
of  opinion  that  it  is  correct,  as  to  the  statement  of  facts ;  and 
there  is  nothing  unjust,  no  misrepresentation,  and  nothing  in 
the  form  of  slander,  contained  in  the  whole  piece." 

Mr.  Hudson  is  still  living,  an  active  laborer  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference.  He  is  a  man  of  high  and  holy  standing 
among  his  brethren — every  way  qualified  to  understand  the 
subject  on  which  he  gives  testimony. 

As  all  the  testimonials  (eighteen  in  number)  agree  in  char- 
acter with  the  foregoing,  it  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  introduce 
them  here.  They  were  all  obtained  in  view  of  a  legal  investi- 
gation; and  when  it  became  probable  no  ecclesiastical   court 


REASONS   FOE   PRESENT    SELF-DEFENSE.  157 

would  be  called  in  ttc  case,  I  published,  in  tbe  Mutual  Riglits, 
the  testimonials  now  introduced,  and  a  few  others,  in  self- 
defense  against  Bishop  Hedding's  charge  of  injustice,  misrep- 
resentation, and  slander. 

Dr.  Clark,*  in  his  "Life  and  Times  of  Bishop  Hedding,"  has 
made  it  necessary  to  reproduce  them,  and  give  this  matter  a 
more  thorough  overhauling.  My  reputation  is  worth  more  than 
money  to  me  and  to  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  and  with 
the  help  of  facts,  and  the  help  of  Grod,  I  mean  to  defend  myself 
before  I  go  and  stand  before  '  my  Judge.  An  honest  man's 
character  does  not  often  need  defense  against  the  assaults  of 
private  enemies.  Such  enemies  generally  do  themselves  more 
harm  than  any  body  else..  But  where  public  official  action 
wrongs  a  man,  and  that  wrong  passes  into  history,  then  self- 
defense  becomes  a  duty  which  no  friend  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness will  allow  himself  to  neglect.  If  my  defense  shall  lead  me 
to  bring  out  some  of  the  things  of  darkness,  which  I  had  hoped 
to  have  left  in  the  shades  forever,  what  will  be  said?  What 
can  be  said?  Simply  this:  self-defense  required  me  to  bring 
them  out. 

*Tliis  gcDtleman  is  now  one  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


158  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINEEANT   LIFE. 


CHAPTEK   IX. 

Lettee  from  Bishop  George— His  Conciliatoky  Efforts— Concessions  to  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference— Passage  of  My  Character— Private  Interview  between 
Bishop  George,  H.  B.  Bascom,  A.  Shinn,  and  Myself- Letter  Published  in  the 
Mutual  Rights,  Signed  "  Plain  Dealing  "—The  General  Conference  of  182S — Mr. 
Shinn's  Eloquent  Speech  in  Favor  of  the  Restoration  of  D.  B.  Dorsey  and 
W.  C.  Pool— Bishop  Hedding  and  Myself  before  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy- 
Decision  OF  THE  Committee— My  Defense. 

In  tlie  summer  of  1827,  while  strong  measures  were  being 
taken  in  the  Baltimore  Conference  against  reformers,  and  prep- 
arations for  ecclesiastical  action  against  the  Editorial  Committee 
were  likewise  being  made,  Bishop  George  addressed  a  letter  to 
Revs.  A.  Shinn,  H.  B.  Bascom,  and  myself,  jointly,  designating 
us  as  being  at  the  head  of  the  reform  movement  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference.  This  letter  was  written  in  a  friendly  tone, 
indicating,  however,  great  solicitude  of  mind,  and  containing 
entreaties,  expostulations,  and  warnings  of  danger  ahead,  not 
only  to  ourselves,  but  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  if  we  per- 
severed in  our  efforts  to  reform  the  government  of  the  Church. 
Mr.  Shinn  sent  a  copy  of  this  letter  to  Mr.  Bascom,  and  another 
to  me,  with  notes  on  all  the  leading  points,  and  kept  the  orig- 
inal himself.  As  to  the  "danger  ahead,"  neither  of  us  could 
fully  understand  what  it  meant.  We  might  either  or  all  of  us 
be  arrested  and  brought  to  trial  according  to  the  plan  of  doing 
business  in  the  Baltimore  Conference;  but  how  could  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference  be  in  danger?  This  was  a  mysterious  inti- 
mation of  something  we  could  not  fully  comprehend.  As  to 
myself,  I  took  occasion  to  look  forward  to  an  account  which  I 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  to  give  at  our  approaching  Con- 
ference, for  Timothy's  Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop.  Yet  the 
letter  did  not  single  me  out  personally  for  punishment,  and 


CONCILIATORY    EFFORTS    OF    BISHOP    GEORGE.  159 

gave  no  intimation  of  any  thing  of  an  unkind  character  toward 
either  of  us.  So  matters  stood  until  the  Conference  in  Steu- 
benville ;  and  Shinn  and  Bascom  and  I  kept  all  these  things, 
and  pondered  them  in  our  hearts,  wondering  what  the  "danger 
ahead"  to  ourselves  and  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  could 
mean. 

About  ten  days  before  Conference,  Bishop  George  arrived  in 
Steubenville.  He  seemed  to  be  in  fine  spirits,  and  was  pleasant 
and  agreeable  in  conversation.  After  attending  a  camp-meeting 
in  JeiFerson  County,  he  returned  to  town  and  spent  a  day  with 
me  in  talking  over  the  matters  at  issue  between  Bishop  Hed- 
ding  and  myself.  He  assumed,  as  I  understood  him,  to  act  for 
Mr.  Hedding,  who,  as  he  said,  could  not  be  present.  He  wished 
to  have  an  understanding  of  the  whole  matter  from  first  to  last. 
So,  to  be  entirely  private,  we  rej)aired  to  a  beautiful  shade  on 
the  bank  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  there  we  overhauled  Timothy's 
Address,  and  spent  the  day  (save  the  dinner  hour)  in  very 
friendly,  earnest  conversation.  The  address  of  Bishop  Hed- 
ding, my  reply,  the  demand  for  my  name,  the  testimonials 
given  me  by  the  preachers,  the  publication  of  some  of  them  in 
the  Mutual  Rights,  and  the  propriety  of  an  amicable  adjustment 
in  terms  honorable  to  the  parties  concerned,  were  all  under 
consideration. 

The  Bishop  said,  at  last,  if  I  "  would  only  make  suitable 
concessions — when  my  character  was  under  examination  before 
the  Conference — to  be  forwarded  by  him  to  Mr.  Hedding,  the 
matter  could  easily  be  adjusted."  I  then  informed  him  that  "I 
could  not  concede  any  of  the  facts ;  they  were  all  susceptible  of 
proof,  as  he  had  seen  from  my  testimonials ;  but  I  was  willing  to 
admit,  the  whole  ease  taken  into  consideration,  that  in  my 
address  there  was  an  unnecessary  severity  of  language,  a  kind 
of  familiar  disrespect,  which  should  have  been  avoided  in  an 
address  to  an  aged  Bishop."  "  Come,  now,"  said  Bishop  Geol'ge, 
"can  you  not  admit  something  more?"  "That  is  all,"  said  I; 
"my  facts  are  provable,  and  I  shall  never  give  them  up."  One 
of  us  (I  forget  which)  then  proposed  an  amicable  reference  of 
the  matter  to  five  of  the  preachers — he  to  choose  two,  and  I  two 


160  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

others,  and  these  four  to  choose  a  fifth — by  whose  advice  I  should 
be  governed  in  the  concessions  to  be  made.  This  arrangement 
was  agreed  upon,  and  we  then  returned  home.  When  the  Con- 
ference came  on,  Bishop  George  chose  (if  I  remember  right) 
Revs.  T.  Fleming  and  C.  Elliott,  and  I  chose  Revs.  A.  Shinn 
and  H.  B.  Bascom ;  and  these  four  chose  Rev.  J.  Waterman. 
Here,  then,  we  had  an  advisory  council  elected  fi-om  both  sides 
of  the  controversy.  These  brethren  (save  Waterman)  had  heard 
the  address  of  Bishop  Hedding ;  they  had  also  read  Timothy, 
and  were  well  qualified  to  give  advice  in  such  a  case.  They 
all  agreed,  after  mature  deliberation,  that  it  was  not  due  to 
Bishop  Hedding  for  me  to  admit  any  ^^  injustice,"  '^'■misrepresent- 
ation" or  "slander"  in  the  statement  of  facts.  But  as  to  tho 
severity  of  the  language  used  in  Timothy's  Address,  conc^irision.s 
were  due  to  Mr.  Hedding.  So,  on  this  basis,  Rev.  A.  Shmu,  at 
my  request,  did  then  and  there  draw  up  a  paper  containing  all 
the  concessions  deemed  by  them  to  be  due  to  Bishop  Hedding. 
To  this  paper  I  attached  my  name,  and  read  it  in  open  Confer- 
ence when  my  character  was  under  examination.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  paper : 

"  Having  understood  that  some  of  my  brethren  are  dissatisfied 
with  me  as  the  author  of  an  address  to  the  junior  Bishop, 
signed  Timothy,  I  cheerfully  avail  myself  of  an  opportunity  to 
offer  a  few  remarks  to  the  Conference  on  that  subject.  My 
object  in  doing  so  is  to  assure  my  brethren  that,  for  peace'  sake, 
I  am  willing  to  enter  into  measures  of  pacification.  And  that 
I  may  not  be  misled  by  my  feelings,  and  to  prevent  any  future 
misunderstanding  on  this  subject,  I  have  thovight  proper  to  place 
my  present  views  and  sentiments  on  paper. 

"Peace  is  my  object.  I  concede,  therefore,  that  in  two  par- 
ticulars in  relation  to  Bishop  Hedding  I  have  erred,  and  failed 
to  select  the  most  excellent  way.  In  the  first  place,  considering 
the  age  and  standing  of  Bishop  Hedding,  and  my  own  youth 
and  relation  to  the  Church,  I  think  it  more  proper  for  me  to 
have  conversed  with  the  Bishop,  or  written  to  him  for  the  pur- 
pose of  explanation,  before  I  published.     This  seems  to  have 


PASSAGE    OF   MY   CHARACTER.  161 

been  required  by  tbe  law  of  brotherly  love  and  Christian  usage. 
I  admit  and  regret  my  error  in  this  particular.  Secondly,  I 
also  concede  that  in  some  reflections  and  inferences  in  my 
address  I  was  unnecessarily  severe,  and  that  the  asperity  should 
have  been  avoided,  as  tending  to  disagreeable  results  and  unpleas- 
ant excitements.  This  I  also  regret ;.  for,  although  I  thought,  at 
the  time,  that  my  severity  was  justified  by  the  circumstances, 
yet  I  now  believe  a  more  mild  and  cautious  manner  would  have 
been  preferable. 

"I  will  further  concede  that  I  may  have  misconceived  the 
meaning  of  Bishop  Hedding  in  some  instances,  and  hence  may 
have  made  an  application  of  his  positions  beyond  what  he 
intended ;  but  if  this  was  the  case,  it  was  an  inadvertency ;  no 
unfairness  of  construction  was  intended  by  me,  and  no  departure 
from  principle,  truth,  and  justice.  Nevertheless,  I  do  not  admit 
the  charge  by  Bishop  Ileddiug  of  '■injustice^'  '■  misrej)resentation,^ 
and  '■  slander  J 

"After  mature  reflection,  I  ofi"er  these  explanations  to  the 
Conference  as  due  to  Bishop  Hedding,  to  them,  and  to  myself, 
and  as  required  by  the  ties  of  our  common  brotherhood,  Chris- 
tian courtesy,  and  the  pacific  principles  of  our  holy  religion. 

"  GrEO.  Brown." 

The  next  day,  when  my  name  was  called  in  Conference  by 
Bishop  George,  I  arose  in  my  place  and  distinctly  read  the 
foregoing  paper.  When  done,  I  remained  standing  for  a  little 
time,  waiting  for  objections;  but,  as  none  were  made,  the  Bishop 
instructed  me  to  retire.  While  I  was  out.  Bishop  George,  as  I 
was  informed,  said  many  good  things  in  my  favor,  having  knov^n 
me  from  the  commencement  of  my  labors  in  the  ministry.  For 
this  kindness  of  the  Bishop  I  felt  thankful.  Bishop  George, 
like  the  Saviour,  came  not  into  the  world  to  destroy  men's  lives, 
but  to  save  them.  Having  diligently  inquired  into  this  whole 
matter,  while  at  Conference,  he  appeared  to  agree  with  my 
advisers,  that  I  had  conceded  to  Bishop  Hedding  enough  in  the 
paper  read  in  Conference.  My  character  was  then  ofiieially 
passed  by  that  body,  with  a  refusal  on  my  part  to  admit  Bishop 


162  RECOLLECTIONS    OP   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

Hedding's  cliarge  of  "injustice,"  "misrepresentation,"  and  "vile 
slander." 

The  members  of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  at  their  session 
in  Washington  the  preceding  year,  had  heard  Bishop  Hedding's 
address;  they  had  read  Timothy,  and  had  likewise  seen  the 
note  of  Mr.  Hedding  demanding  my  name,  and  were  not  willing 
officially  to  sustain  his  charge.  How  could  they  be  willing  to 
do  such  a  thing?  To  say  officially,  in  the  sight  of  Grod,  that  a 
charge  so  broad,  so  all-comprising,  and  so  foul,  was  true,  could 
not  be  done  by  that  body  of  ministers.  That  Timothy's  entire 
"piece"  was  "unjust"  to  Mr.  Hedding;  that  the  whole  "piece" 
"throughout"  was  a  "misrepresentation"  of  his  address;  that 
the  whole  "piece,"  taken  together,  was  a  "vile  slander"  on  his 
"character,"  were  distinct  propositions  which  neither  my  ad- 
visory council  nor  the  Conference  could  in  conscience  sustain 
against  me.  So  there  the  matter  rested,  and  I  felt  thankful  to 
God  and  the  Conference  for  sustaining  me  in  the  dark  hour  of 
trial.  All  through  this  trial  I  felt  it  to  be  a  fearful  matter  to 
be  in  conflict  with  a  Bishop ;  to  have  all  his  weight  of  character 
and  influence  against  me.  I  saw,  also,  among  the  brethren,  a 
great  tenderness  toward  Bishop  Hedding's  character;  yet  that 
tenderness,  which  I  could  not  blame,  did  not  sway  their  judg- 
ment; they  relieved  me  of  the  terrible  weight  of  the  Bishop's 
charge,  in  obedience  to  their  clearest  views  of  justice  in  the 
case. 

In  relation  to  the  paper  read  in  Conference,  it  will  be  proper 
to  observe  that,  standing  pledged  to  be  governed,  as  to  conces- 
sions, by  my  advisers,  I  yielded  a  little  more  than  I  did  to 
Bishop  George.  I  did  it,  not  from  conviction  of  moral  obliga- 
tion, but  for  "peace'  sake."  In  this  thing  I  allowed  my  breth- 
ren to  judge  for  me.  Bishop  Hedding  did  not  consult  the 
Conference  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  address  against  reform, 
the  time  when  it  should  be  delivered,  the  manner  how,  or  any 
thing  about  it,  but  gave  it  to  us  at  the  close  of  the  Conference, 
leaving  no  opportunity  for  any  one  to  reply.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, I  did  not  feel  myself  bound,  in  moral  justice,  to 
consult  him  by  "conversing  with  him,"  or  "writing  to  him,"  as 


LETTER   PUBLISHED    IN   THE    MUTUAL    RIGHTS.  163 

to  the  time  or  place,  or  manner,  of  my  reply.  In  all  this  I  felt 
entitled  to  equal  rights  with  the  Bishop.  Especially  did  I  feel 
so,  as  he  had  stepped  outside  of  all  law,  civil,  ecclesiastical,  and 
divine,  when  he  made  that  address  against  reform,  as  discussed 
in  the  Mutual  Rights. 

In  the  progress  of  affairs  at  the  Conference  in  Steubenville, 
Bishop  George  invited  A.  Shinn,  H.  B.  Bascom,  and  myself  to 
his  room,  and  there,  in  great  earnestness  and  yet  with  Christian 
tenderness,  he  breathed  out  all  that  was  in  his  soul  against  our 
reform  movements.  To  him  lay  delegation  was  ruin  to  the 
Church.  To  me  the  good  old  man  did  appear  to  be  most  re- 
ligiously sincere.  At  last  he  said  there  did  exist  a  determina- 
tion— but  he  did  not  say  where — to  dissolve  the  Pittsburgh 
Conference,  at  the  ensuing  General  Conference,  if  we,  and  the 
other  brethren  in  the  Conference  known  as  reformers,  did  not 
cease  to  agitate  the  Church  on  the  lay  delegation  question.  The 
Bishop  thought  lay  delegation  would  be  ruin  to  the  Church. 
We  thought  that  to  admit  the  laity  to  a  just  participation  with 
the  preachers  in  every  department  of  the  government  would 
be  a  ground  of  general  prosperity  to  our  community.  So,  with- 
out making  him  any  promise  to  give  up  the  cause  of  reform, 
the  interview  was  closed,  and  we  now  understood  for  the  first 
time  what  was  meant  in  the  Bishop's  letter,  previously  received, 
concerning  "danger  ahead  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference." 

The  following  communication,  said  to  have  been  written  by 
Mr.  Bascom,  and  published  in  the  Mutual  Rights,  vol.  iv,  p.  91, 
will  indicate  the  kind  of  feeling  produced  by  this  threat  to  dis- 
solve the  Pittsburgh  Conference  in  the  minds  of  reformers.  It 
is  dated  September,  1827,  and  signed  "Plain  Dealing." 

"  Messrs.  Editors  : 

"  There  is  a  measure  in  contemplation  which  I  think  proper 
to  make  known.  It  came  from  one  of  our  Bishops,  and  the 
witnesses  are  eight  or  ten  in  number.  It  is  a  determination  to 
dissolve  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference,  at  the  next  General 
Conference,  should  its  members  persist  in  their  attachment  to 
the  principles  of  reform.     Now,  in  my  judgment,  there  is  more 


164  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITKERANT   LIFE. 

want  of  principle,  more  deliberate  cruelty  in  this  hard-hearted, 
unjustifiable  measure  of  oppression,  than  in  all  the  petty  deeds 
of  persecution  with  which  our  modern  journals  have  been 
stained.  Merciful  God !  are  these  the  only  weapons  Christian 
Bishops  and  their  ministerial  dependants  can  use  to  extermin- 
ate error  !  I  heard  it  with  regret,  I  write  it  with  sorrow ;  but 
it  is  due  to  the  Methodist  public  that  it  should  be  known. 

"  The  territory  embraced  by  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  sup- 
ports a  population  of  several  hundred  tnbusand.  There  are 
nearly  ninety  traveling  preachers  belonging  to  the  Conference, 
and  some  of  them  inferior  to  none  in  the  United  States.  But 
all  this  avails  nothing ;  reform  must  go  down,  right  or  wrong, 
and  hence  the  meditated  blow  at  the  very  existence  of  the  Con- 
ference !  Other  measures  of  a  similar  kind  are  in  contempla- 
tion, and  as  I  have  collected  a  large  number  of  facts  in  relation 
to  these  things,  you  may  hear  from  me  again.  It  may  yet  be 
seen  what  share  a  Methodist  Bisho])  can  take  in  the  persecu- 
tions now  going  on  in  Baltimore.  I  have  also  had  my  eye  on 
the  movements  of  a  few  individuals  in  that  city  who  have  been 
forming  alliances,  that  I  may  be  compelled  to  expose,  not  much 
to  their  credit,  in  order  to  aifect  injuriously  the  reputation  of 
reformers.  If  private  character  must  be  assailed  in  this  con- 
troversy, let  the  inquisition  extend  to  a  few  of  the  blustering 
dupes  of  the  artful  and  designing  in  your  city,  and  it  will  be 
found  that  they  are  not  quite  so  invulnerable  as  they  have  imag- 
ined. Should  justice  and  humanity  compel  me  to  engage  in 
this  business,  I  shall  undertake  nothing  but  what  I  can  prove 
in  courts  of  law,  civil  or  ecclesiastical." 

Here,  then,  we  have  it  clearly  brought  to  light  that,  in  the 
high  places  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  "  there  did 
exist  a  determination"  to  put  down  reform,  by  the  abolishment 
of  the  very  existence  of  a  Conference.  Much  has  been  said,  iu 
times  gone  by,  and  in  later  times,  too,  of  the  rashness  and  vio- 
lence of  the  reformers,  but  nothing  equal  to  this  can  be  laid  to 
their  charge.  To  kill  a  Conference  in  order  to  prevent  lay  del- 
egation was  an  exceedingly  violent  proposition.     Yet,  according 


THE    GENERAL    CONFERENCE    OF    1828.  165 

to  tte  disclosures  made  by  Bishop  George,  holy  ministers  of  the 
lowly  Jesus  were  "determined"  upon  this  thing.  They  must 
have  been  ministers  in  high  authority,  and  of  great  influence, 
to  hope  to  sway  the  General  Conference  in  such  a  tragical  trans- 
action. The  whole  communication  of  "Plain  Dealing,"  on  the 
proposed  destruction  of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  to  defeat  the 
lay  delegation  reform,  indicated  a  mind  thoroughly  roused  and 
indignant;  his  thoughts  are  all  on  fire,  and  his  very  words 
burn. 

Perhaps  his  scorching  communication  balked  the  purpose  of 
men  in  power,  and  hindered  the  dissolution  of  the  Conference. 

The  ecclesiastical  proceedings  against  reformers,  in  Baltimore 
and  other  places,  indicated  trouble  ahead  to  the  friends  of  lay 
rights  at  the  approaching  General  Conference.  Rev.  C.  Springer, 
in  a  letter,  informed  me  that  "  there  was  a  rod  in  soak  for  me." 
That  the  "directory  of  the  Ohio  Conference"  had  originated 
a  determination  to  bring  up  the  Hedding  case  in  General  Con- 
ference, and  get  it  disposed  of  in  such  a  way  as  would  clear  the 
Bishop  from  all  blame  for  his  note  to  the  Editorial  Committee, 
and  seriously  involve  me.  This  I  could  hardly  believe  they 
would  do,  as  such  a  procedure  would  as  deeply  implicate  the 
Pittsburgh  Conference  as  it  would  me ;  for  that  body  had  offi- 
cially passed  my  character,  with  an  open  declaration  on  my  part, 
at  the  time,  that  I  did  not  admit  the  truth  of  Bishop  Hedding's 
charge  made  against  me  of  "injustice,"  "misrepresentation," 
and  "vile  slander."  When  the  General  Conference  of  1828 
assembled  in  Pittsburgh,  Rev.  C.  Springer  and  I  attended.  We 
saw,  when  there  a  few  days,  unmistakable  evidence  of  great 
hostility  to  reform.  The  prejudice  against  us  and  our  cause 
seemed  equal  to  that  of  Jews  against  Christians,  or  of  Catholics 
against  Protestants.  There  was  in  that  prejudice  no  mercy  to 
the  cause  of  lay  delegation ;  yet  I  heard  nothing  among  the 
members  of  that  Conference  about  dissolving  the  Pittsburgh 
Conference  to  put  down  reform.  No  such  earthquake  occurred. 
Perhaps  the  "determination"  to  do  that  violent  deed  had  been 
given  up,  in  view  of  other  measures  equally  effective  and  less 
repulsive  to  the  common  sense  of  majikind.     I  saw  and  heard, 


166  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

in  a  General  Conference  love-feast,  on  Sunday  morning,  enough 
to  satisfy  me  of  the  depth  and  force  of  misguided  zeal  and  igno- 
rant prejudice  against  the  friends  of  ecclesiastical  reform.  Al- 
most all  who  spoke  praised  the  ancient  order  of  things,  and 
placed  their  heaviest  condemnation  on  those  "restless  spirits" 
who  were  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  Church  by  trying  to  in- 
troduce lay  rights.  The  Southern  preachers,  who  were  gen- 
erally slaveholders,  took  the  lead  in  this  scandalous  abuse 
heaped  upon  the  heads  of  reformers,  in  that  love-feast  meeting, 
in  the  house  of  Grod,  on  the  holy  Sabbath-day.  One  could 
hardly  wonder  that  Southern  slaveholding  preachers,  who  deny 
civil  freedom  to  the  colored  race,  should  likewise  deny  ecclesi- 
astical liberty  to  their  white  brethren ;  for  slaveholding  is  nat- 
urally corrupting  in  its  tendency.  But  how  men  in  the  free 
states,  educated  to  hate  slavery,  could,  in  a  love-feast,  reproach 
reformers  for  seeking  to  enfranchise  the  Church  of  God  with 
ecclesiastical  liberty,  was  to  me  incomprehensible.  For  Meth- 
odists in  the  free  North,  always  glorying  in  their  civil  freedom, 
to  be  living  from  generation  to  generation  under  ecclesiastical 
laws,  in  the  making  of  which  they  had  no  more  hand  than 
Southern  slaves  have  had  in  the  making  of  the  laws  under 
which  they  are  lashed  and  driven,  from  age  to  age,  is  to  me 
absolutely  amazing.  Does  slavery,  in  many  instances,  stupefy 
the  faculties  of  the  sons  of  Ham,  and  render  them  indifferent 
to  liberty?  Does  not  ecclesiastical  bondage,  as  seen  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  and  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches,  have  the 
Bame  tendency?  To  insure  the  perpetuation  of  American  lib- 
erty, all  the  Churches  in  this  nation  should,  both  by  precept 
and  example,  teach  the  doctrine  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  free- 
dom. 

But,  to  show  still  further  that  reformers  had  but  little  to 
expect  from  the  General  Conference  of  1828,  I  will  now  give, 
according  to  my  best  recollection,  a  brief  account  of  the  trial 
of  the  appeals  of  Rev.  D.  B.  Dorsey  and  W.  C.  Pool,  both  of 
whom  had  been  expelled  for  reform  movements  by  the  Balti- 
more Conference.  Neither  of  these  brethren  could  be  present, 
BO  they  had   committed   the   management  of  their   appeals  to 


MR.  Slimi^'S   SPEECH.  167 

Rev.  A.  Shinn;  and,  if  I  remember  right,  Rev.  W.  Fisk  was 
appointed  by  the  Conference  to  assist  him.  The  case  came  on 
in  the  morning,  and  was  opened  by  Mr.  Shinn,  who  represented 
the  appellants,  by  reading  the  grounds  of  their  appeal  as  set 
forth  by  themselves  in  writing.  Then  the  members  of  the  Bal- 
timore Conference,  according  to  the  forms  of  law  govei'ning  in 
such  cases,  responded,  justifying  the  action  of  their  Conference 
iu  the  expulsions.  This  brought  on  the  hour  of  adjournment 
for  dinner.  That  day  I  dined  with  Mr.  Shinn.  He  ate  but 
little,  conversed  none,  but  his  great  soul  was  full  of  thought 
and  prayer.  At  two  o'clock  the  case  was  resumed,  and  there 
was  a  full  house  to  hear  Mr.  Shinn  make  the  closing  argument, 
I  sat  back  without  the  bar,  to  take  down  in  writing  the  main 
points  of  said  argument. 

AVhen  Mr.  Shinn  arose  and  stood  in  silence  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, the  whole  assembly  became  very  still.  He  was  pale, 
calm,  self-possessed,  and  very  dignified  in  appearance.  He  com- 
menced his  argument  with  a  clear,  full,  round  tone  of  voice, 
evidently  reaching  every  ear  in  the  house.  His  exordium  was 
simple,  modest,  chaste — going  to  show  that  all  he  wished  for 
in  behalf  of  the  appellants  was,  that  the  truth  viight  shine  and 
that  justice  Tnight  he  done.  The  facts  of  the  case  and  the  laws 
of  the  Church  were  then  most  searchingly  examined,  and  it  was 
made  distinctly  to  appear  that  the  expulsions  were  without  the 
sanction  of  the  laws  of  the  Church.  He  then  made  it  appear, 
from  all  the  evidence  in  that  high  court  of  appeals,  that  the 
things  charged  against  the  appellants  in  the  court  below  were 
not,  in  themselves,  criminal  actions.  He  then  took  the  written 
appeal  sent  up  by  the  expelled  brethren,  and  argued  the  truth- 
fulness and  justice  of  that  paper  in  all  its  parts.  He  then 
appealed  to  the  justice,  honor,  and  impartiality  of  that  high 
tribunal,  and  urged,  with  all  the  force  of  his  logical  energy, 
the  restoration  of  the  appellants  to  their  places  in  the  Church, 
and  to  the  public  confidence.  In  the  peroration  the  speaker 
became  most  overwhelmingly  eloquent,  and  swept  defiantly  over 
the  enemies  of  mutual  rights.  The  effect  upon  that  great 
assembly  was   thrilling.     The    Bishops,   generally  florid,   now 


168  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

looked  pale.  Ex-Governor  Findlej,  of  Pennsylvania,  wlio  sat 
in  the  gallery,  wept  like  a  child.  Many  members  of  the  Con- 
ference felt  like  the  Governor,  so  did  many  spectators;  and  I 
found  myself  unable,  some  time  before  the  speech  was  ended, 
to  take  any  more  notes. 

When  Mr.  Shinn  resumed  his  seat  there  was  a  long  pause — 
a  time  to  take  breath.  The  Bishops,  and  other  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  Conference,  looked  wisely  at  each  other.  Just  then 
a  New  England  preacher,  having  seen  me  writing,  came  round 
to  me  and  said:  "Why  don't  the  Bishop  put  the  vote?  I  hate 
Shinn  like  fire,  but  I  never  heard  such  an  argument  before  in 
all  my  life.  If  they  will  put  the  vote  now,  the  appellants  will 
be  restored  and  the  Baltimoreans  defeated — and  they  ought 
to  be  defeated."  So  thought  I,  and  many  more  besides  that 
New  England  preacher.  But  the  vote  was  not  put,  as  the  law 
directed.  E.ev.  John  Early,  and  other  Southern  preachers, 
without  introduciixg  any  new  question,  were  suffered  to  run  a 
tirade  against  Mr.  Shinn,  during  most  of  the  afternoon,  for  a 
piece  in  the  Mutual  Rights,  published  by  him,  entitled  "  Sov- 
ereignty of  Methodism  in  the  South."  To  this  disorderly 
ramble  Mr.  Shinn  made  no  reply,  as  it  had  no  relation  to  the 
question  before  the  Conference.  Finally,  the  Chair  announced 
that  the  vote  would  be  taken  the  next  morning.  From  that 
moment  the  reformers  had  their  fears  of  foul  play. 

That  evening,  at  supper,  at  the  house  of  John  McGill,  much 
was  said  of  the  argumentative  eloquence  of  Mr.  Shinn's  speech 
that  afternoon.  Bishop  Roberts,  who  sat  by  my  side,  said, 
"Yes,  that  was  true  eloquence  of  the  highest  order."  He  then 
added  that  he  "did  not  remember  ever  to  have  heard  a  speech 
surpassing  Mr.  Shinn's  for  argumentative  eloquence."  At  that 
table,  however,  no  opinion  was  expressed  as  to  how  the  vote 
would  go  the  next  morning. 

That  night,  about  eleven  o'clock,  I  met  Mr.  Bascom  on  the 
street,  who  said:  "There  has  been  a  caucus  meeting  to-night, 
and  I  have  been  eavesdropping  them.  They  have  secured  a 
majority  of  twenty,  pledged  on  a  paper,  against  the  appellants." 
I  said  I  did  hope,  for  the  honor  of  the  Christian  religion,  that 


BEFORE   TEE   COMMITTEE    ON   EPISCOPACY.  169 

lie  was  mistaken ;  but  he  affirmed  it  was  so,  and  said,  You 
will  see,  to-morrow  morning."  In  the  morning,  when  the  vote 
was  taken,  they  had  about  the  majority  against  the  appellants 
that  Bascom  had  reported.  This  whole  affair  led  me  strongly 
to  suspect  that  reformers  were  to  have  no  fair  dealing  in  that 
General  Conference.  In  this  case,  would  the  end  sanctify  the 
means?  or  the  means  sanctify  the  end?  Were  not  both  the  end 
and  the  means  wrong  ?  The  forms  of  law,  in  the  main,  had 
been  allowed  during  the  trial;  but  the  ends  of  justice  had  been 
defeated  by  caucus  management. 

On  hearing  that  Bishop  Hedding  had  thrown  his  case  before 
the  Committee  on  Episcopacy,  I  sought  an  interview  with  him, 
at  the  residence  of  Rev.  C.  Avery,  to  give  him  an  opportunity, 
in  person,  to  eonvinee  me,  if  he  could,  of  the  "injustice,"  "mis- 
representation," and  "vile  slander"  contained  in  "Timothy's 
Address  to  the  Junior  Bishop."  That  interview  lasted  about 
four  hours,  during  which  time  we  overhauled  the  whole  matter 
at  issue  between  us,  without  any  unkindness  of  feeling  on  either 
Bide.  He  complained  that  I  had  not  done  him  justice;  first, 
in  the  broad,  undefined  sense  in  which  I  had  used  the  word 
^Weform."  It  might  be  inferred,  he  said,  from  Timothy's  Ad- 
dress, that  he  was  opposed  to  all  reform,  in  the  broadest  sense. 
This  was  not  true,  for  in  his  address  at  Washington  he  had 
claimed  to  be  a  reformer  on  the  Presiding  Elder  question.  Sec- 
ondly, in  the  broad,  undefined  sense  in  which  I  had  used  the 
word  '■^discussion."  It  might  be  inferred,  he  said,  from  Timo 
thy's  Address,  that  he  was  opposed  to  all  manner  of  discussion. 
This  was  not  true,  for  in  his  address  at  Washington  he  did 
allow  of  preachers  discussing  matters  of  Church  government 
^'■privately,  hetween  themselves."  These  were  the  main  points  on 
which  the  Bishop  founded  his  complaints  against  Timothy's 
Address.  The  other  complaints  were  of  inferences  which  might 
be  drawn,  to  his  injury,  from  the  aforesaid  terms  being  used  in 
too  broad  a  sense.  Neither  of  us  had  Timothy's  Address  with 
us,  nor  had  I  read  it  for  eight  or  nine  months;  so  I  supposed 
that  the  Bishop  was  correct  as  to  my  using  the  two  terms, 
'< reform"  and  "discussion,"  in  too  broad  a  sense,  and  concluded 
11 


170  RECOLLECTIONS   OP   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

at  once  on  making  reparation.  When  I  came  to  this  conclu- 
sion, I  did  certainly  know  tliat  conceding  that  the  two  terms, 
"reform"  and  "discussion,"  had  been  used  in  too  broad  a  sense, 
would  not  afford  an  honest  logician  any  just  grounds  to  infer 
the  truth  of  the  Bishop's  charge.  It  would  not  vitiate  Timo- 
thy's whole  address  so  as  to  make  the  whole  "piece"  "unjust" — 
the  whole  "piece"  in  all  its  parts  a  "misrepresentation" — the 
whole  "piece"  a  "vile  slander"  on  the  Bishop's  "character." 
I  greatly  desired  to  be  an  honest  man,  and  felt  entirely  willing, 
in  this  case,  to  make  reparation  so  far  as  conscience  might 
require. 

The  next  day,  at  the  invitation  of  Bishop  Hedding  and  two 
of  the  members  of  the  Conference,  I  went  before  the  Commit- 
tee on  Episcopacy,  for  the  purpose,  as  I  was  informed,  of  a 
'■'■friendly  cxplayiation'"  of  the  difficulty  between  Mr.  Hedding 
and  myself.  It  never  entered  into  my  mind  that  the  results  of 
that  pacific,  friendly  explanation  to  which  I  was  invited  on  that 
occasion  were  to  be  published  in  the  Advocate  and  Journal.  I 
believed  then,  and  trust  I  always  shall  believe,  that  no  good 
cause  can  be  benefited  by  avoiding  the  light,  or  injured  by  a 
candid  acknowledgment  of  our  unintentional  errors.  Four  rea- 
sons induced  me  to  seek  an  interview  with  the  Bishop,  and 
made  me  willing  to  go  before  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy : 
First,  I  wanted  the  truth  of  the  case  in  hand  to  be  clearly 
ascertained,  that  I  might  make  reparation,  if  any  were  due. 
Secondly,  terms  of  pacification  were  talked  of,  and,  as  I  under- 
stood it,  greatly  desired  by  leading  men  on  both  sides  of  the 
controversy.  I  did  not,  therefore,  want  my  difficulty  with  Mr. 
Hedding  to  be  in  the  way  of  so  desirable  an  object  as  an  honor- 
able pacification.  Thirdly,  but  if  pacification  proved  a  failure, 
as  I  feared  it  would,  and  the  reformers  should  be  pressed  out 
of  the  Church,  I  wanted  all  my  matters  settled  before  we  went, 
80  as  to  leave  it  in  the  power  of  no  one  to  injure  me  about  this 
affair  after  our  separation.  Fourthly,  for  the  sake  of  my  own 
natural  and  spiritual  health,  I  felt  it  a  duty,  as  far  as  possible 
on  honorable  principles,  to  be  at  peace  with  all  men.     Without 


BEFORE    THE    COMMITTEE.  ON   EPISCOPACY.  171 

natural  health,  life  is  a  misery;   without  spiritual  health,  our 
eternal  interest  is  ruined. 

Rev.  S.  Gr.  Roszel  was  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  I 
knew  him  too  well  to  have  any  hope  of  favors  from  him.  He 
was — to  his  honor  be  it  recorded — no  enemy  in  disguise.  His 
open  hostility  to  the  Wesleyan  Repository,  the  Mutual  Rights, 
the  Presiding  Elder  reform,  and  the  lay  delegation  reform  is 
well  known.  To  see  S.  Gr.  Roszel  in  the  chair,  with  all  his 
unbending  antipathies  and  prejudices  against  all  manner  of  re- 
form, did  foretell  to  me  nothing  favorable.  When  the  chairman 
had  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting,  the  delegates  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference  were  called  upon  to  state  their  recollections 
of  Bishop  Hedding's  address  at  the  Conference  in  Washington. 
They  did  so,  one  after  another,  in  order.  Shinn  and  Bascom, 
the  only  reformers  in  the  delegation,  were  not  present.  (^Query: 
Had  they  been  invited?)  These  delegates,  severally,  then  an- 
swered such  questions  as  were  proposed  by  the  Bishop  and  the 
committee.  Then  the  Bishop  read  a  paper,  containing  his  recol- 
lections of  his  address  to  the  Conference  in  Washington.  He 
then  pointed  out  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  "injustice,"  "mis- 
representation," and  "slander"  in  Timothy's  Address.  All  this 
time  I  had  received  no  new  light  from  either  the  Bishop  or  the 
Pittsburgh  delegation  on  the  subject  before  us.  My  impressions 
remained  the  same  as  they  had  been  the  night  before,  at  the  pri- 
vate interview  with  Mr.  Heddiug.  Finally,  I  was  requested  to 
make  such  statements  as  I  might  deem  proper  on  that  occasion. 
I  arose,  and  stated  frankly  that  "  I  was  willing  to  concede  to 
Bishop  Hedding  that  I  had  failed,  in  uiy  address  to  him,  to  dis- 
criminate with  sufficient  clearness  and  accuracy  in  the  use  of  two 
words,  and  had,  therefore,  used  those  words  in  too  broad  and  un- 
defined a  sense.  The^  words  were  'reform'  and. ' dismission.'  It 
might  be  supposed  by  some,  from  my  undefined  use  of  the  word 
'  reform,'  that  the  Bishop  had  opposed  all  manner  of  reform. 
This  supposition  would  be  untrue,  for  he  had  said  explicitly, 
in  his  address,  that  he  favored  reform  so  far  as  the  election  of 
Presiding  Elders  was  concerned,  and  no  further.     It  might  be 


172  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

concluded  by  some,  from  my  use  of  the  word  '  discussion ' — not 
taving  limited  its  meaning — that  he  had  opposed  all  manner 
of  discussion.  This,  too,  would  be  untrue,  for  he  had  allowed 
of  private  discussion  of  matters  of  Church  government  among 
the  preachers.  Any  inferences  injurious  to  Bishop  Hedding, 
drawn  from  these  two  terms  used  in  too  broad  a  sense,  are 
hereby  given  up.  The  premises  being  incorrect,  all  the  infer- 
ences may  be  erroneous."  This  is  the  substance,  as  near  as  I 
can  recollect — my  notes  being  lost — of  the  concessions  then 
made;  and  they  do  not,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  affect  the 
general  truthfulness  of  Timothy's  Address,  or  afford  a  just  and 
adequate  reason  for  sustaining  the  Bishop's  charge. 

Bishop  Hedding,  when  I  was  done  speaking,  arose  and  said 
frankly,  in  the  presence  of  the  committee,  that  ''he  admitted iQie 
uprightness  of  my  intentions,  and  that  I  did  not  design  to  do 
hifli  any  injustice,  in  any  thing  I  had  written."  When  the 
Bishop  sat  down.  Rev.  W.  Capers,  a  Southern  slaveholding 
preacher,  came  stepping  out  of  a  corner  and  said :  "  In  publish- 
ing this  matter,  it  would  only  be  necessary  to  mention  the  name 
of  Timothy;  brother  Brown's  name  need  not  appear.''  On 
learning  that  they  had  been  getting  something  out  of  me  for 
publication,  I  informed  them  that  "  I  intended  myself  to  give 
a  correct  explanation  of  this  whole  matter  to  the  public." 

After  some  time,  I  saw  in  the  Advocate  and  Journal  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy,  justifying  Bishop  Hed- 
ding and  involving  me,  which  thing,  Rev.  C.  Springer  had  in- 
formed me,  the  ''directory  in  the  Ohio  Conference"  meant  to 
have  accomplished  by  the  General  Conference.  I  will  now  give 
the  closing  part  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy, 
above  alluded  to,  and  then  make  my  own  defense : 

"The  plan  pursued  to  attain  this  object  [the  character  of 
Mr.  Hedding's  address]  was,  for  the  members  of^  the  (Pitts- 
burgh) delegation,  severally,  first  to  state  their  recollections  of 
that  address,  and  then  to  answer  the  questions  proposed  to  them 
on  the  subject.  After  all  those  delegates  had  thus  communi- 
cated to  the  committee  their  recoyections,  a  paper  was  read  con- 


MY   DEFENSE.  173 

taining  as  accurate  an  outline  of  the  address  of  the  Bishop  as  he 
had  been  able  to  make  out  from  his  own  recollection.  The  rec- 
ollections of  the  delegates  from  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  and 
of  Bishop  Hedding  were  not  only  substantially,  but,  in  a  re- 
markable degree,  circumstantially  concurrent. 

"The  Bishop  then  pointed  out  the  injustice,  misrepresenta- 
tion, and  slander  of  his  character,  which  he  considered  as  per- 
vading the  address  signed  '  Timothy.'  After  which,  the  author 
of  that  article,  having  been  permitted  to  address  the  committee, 
acknowledged  that,  in  not  properly  distinguishing  in  two  in- 
stances, he  had  done  injustice,  giving  the  general  character  of 
the  Bishop's  address ;  that  some  of  the  inferences  he  had  drawn 
were  unjust;  that,  as  his  premises  were  incorrect,  all  the  infer- 
ences drawn  from  them  might  be  erroneous. 

"Your  committee  beg  leave,  therefore,  to  declare,  as  the  re- 
sult of  their  investigation  in  this  matter,  that  they  consider  the 
view  presented  in  the  Bishop's  note  to  the  editor  of  the  Mutual 
Rights,  of  the  article  signed  'Timothy,'  to  have  been  strictly 
correct.  The  committee  would  further  declare  that,  in  their 
opinion,  the  address  of  Bishop  Hedding,  as  recollected  by  him- 
self and  the  delegates  of  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference,  not 
only  was  not  deserving  of  censure,  but  was  such  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  rendered  it  his  ofBcial  duty  to  deliver. 

[Signed]  "  S.  G.  Roszel,  Chairman.^-^ 

"PiTTSBUEQH,  May  16,  1828." 

The  foregoing  decision  of  the  Committee  on  Episcopacy  is 
made  to  rest  on  three  sources  of  testimony: 

I.  On  the  "recollection"  of  Bishop  Hedding.  Let  it  be 
kept  in  mind  that  he  is  bearing  testimony  in  his  own  be- 
half. Here  I  claim  equal  rights  all  through  the  defense  I  now 
make.  The  report  says,  "A  paper  was  read  containing  as  ac- 
curate an  outline  of  the  address  of  the  Bishop  as  he  had  been 
able  to  make  out  from  his  own  recollection.'^  Here  I  have  the 
advantage,  for  I  wrote  from  memonj,  and  memory  is  more  relia- 
ble than  recollection.     In  his  case,  some  months  having  elapsed 

♦See  Life  and  Times  of  Bisliop  Hedding,  p.SOii. 


174  KECOLLECTIOKS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

before  lie  saw  Timothy,  it  required  a  mental  effort,  called  recol- 
lection, to  recover  back  to  the  mind  what  he  did  say  in  his  ad- 
dress in  Washington.  But  on  the  spot,  before  the  Bishop  had 
left  town,  I  compared  my  views  with  those  of  my  aggrieved 
friends,  as  to  the  objectionable  traits  in  his  address,  and  stored 
the  whole  away  in  my  memory,  and  in  a  short  time  committed 
all  the  points  to  writing.  I  think,  therefore,  that  my  remem- 
brances, as  contained  in  Timothy's  Address,  are  entitled  to  a 
higher  degree  of  credit  than  the  Bishop's  "recollections,"  and 
that  Timothy's  Address,  as  to  matters  of  fact,  is  a  reliable  com- 
munication. Is  it  not  a  little  remarkable  that  so  important  a 
paper  as  the  Bishop's  "recollections,"  etc.,  should  have  been 
omitted  by  Dr.  Clark  in  his  Life  and  Times  of  Bishop  Heddiug? 
It  would  have  been  very  gratifying  to  me,  indeed,  to  have  seen 
that  paper  in  print.  Then  I  should  have  been  able  to  compare 
it  and  Timothy  together,  and  see  whether  his  recollections  were, 
under  the  character  of  testimony,  worth  more  than  my  remem- 
brances. 

II.  The  testimony  of  the  Pittsburgh  delegation.  The  report 
of  the  committee  says,  "  All  those  delegates  had  communicated 
to  the  committee  their  recollections,"  etc.  The  recollections  of 
the  delegates  and  of  the  Bishop  are  said  to  be  "  substantially 
and  circumstantially  concurrent."  Now  let  us  examine  this 
boasted  testimony,  and,  if  possible,  ascertain  its  worth.  In  the 
first  place,  the  report  itself  is  wanting  in  truth.  It  introduces 
all  the  Pittsburgh  delegates  as  stating  their  recollections  to  the 
committee.  This  is  not  the  fact:  Shinn  and  Bascom  were  not 
there.  Undoubtedly  they  would  have  been,  had  they  been  noti- 
fied. Perhaps,  as  they  were  reformers,  their  recollections  were 
not  desired,  lest  they  should  be  on  the  other  side.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  Timothy's  Address  stood  indorsed  already  by  two 
other  Pittsburgh  delegates,  Monroe  and  Elliott,  in  a  very  formal 
manner.  The  first  had  voluntarily  given  me  a  written  testimo- 
nial sustaining  the  facts  of  my  address,  and  the  other,  as  a 
member  of  my  advisory  council,  had  joined  with  his  colleagues, 
in  judgment,  that  I  ought  not  to  admit  any  "injustice,"  "mis- 
representation," or  "slander,"  when   my  character   passed   the 


MY    DEFENSE.  175 

Pittsburgh  Conference  in  Steubenville.  Besides,  Mr.  Elliott 
had  said  to  Mr.  Waterman  and  others  that  "he  had  intended  to 
have  addressed  the  Bishop  himself,  on  the  impropriety  of  his 
address,  if  Timothy  had  not  done  it."  I  watched  these  two  wit- 
nesses closely,  as  they  were  both  old-side  men,  and  of  course 
had  their  leanings  toward  the  Bishop's  side  of  the  question,  yet 
I  could  not  see  that  they  contradicted  their  former  testimony  as 
to  the  facts  in  Timothy's  Address. 

As  to  the  other  members  of  the  Pittsburgh  delegation — sur- 
rounded by  the  influences  and  antipathies  then  felt,  at  that 
General  Conference,  where  even  Bishops  anticipated  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  to  put  down  reform — I 
freely  admit  that,  in  their  recollections  of  the  Bishop's  address, 
they  were  unfavorable  to  Timothy;  more  so  when  answering 
questions  than  in  their  first  statements.  Yet,  why  should  their 
testimony  outweigh  the  testimony  of  all  my  witnesses,  who, 
against  every  consideration  of  self-interest,  had  indorsed,  by  writ- 
ten certificates,  the  veracity  of  Timothy  as  to  the  statement  of 
facts?  It  may  be  said  that  all  my  witnesses  were  "radicals."  Not 
all  of  them.  Monroe,  and  Holmes,  and  Hudson,  and  Calender, 
•were  all  old-side  men.  But  if  they  had  all  been  "  radicals," 
would  this  have  destroyed  the  worth  of  their  testimony?  If 
BO,  then  the  Pittsburgh  delegates  in  question,  all  being  old-side, 
were  not  worthy  of  credit.  Besides  all  this,  these  Pittsburgh 
delegates  did  not  truly  represent  the  action  of  their  own  Con- 
ference in  my  case.  That  Conference,  when  I  read  a  paper 
containing  some  concessions  to  Bishop  Hedding,  but  distinctly 
refusing  to  admit  his  charge  of  "  injustice,"  "misrepresenta- 
tion," and  "vile  slander,"  ofiicially  passed  my  character,  and 
these  delegates  took  part  in  that  transaction.  Bishop  Hedding 
did  not  bring  that  conference  action  before  the  General  Confer- 
ence for  correction,  so  he  thereby  acknowledged  its  validity ; 
yet,  when  he  aimed  a  deadly  blow  at  me  personally,  at  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  these  delegates,  disregarding  the  action  of  the 
body  to  which  they  belonged,  came  forth  to  the  help  of  the 
Bishop  against  me.  Certainly,  when  this  whole  matter  is  fully 
understood,  this  double   operation   of  these  delegates  will  uo-t 


176  RECOLLECTIONS    OP    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

very  mucli  increase  the  weight  of  their  testimony.  He  who  has 
a  case  before  an  impartial  jury  should  bring  better  witnesses 
into  court  than  these  delegates,  if  he  expects  to  carry  his  cause. 

III.  The  decision  of  the  committee  is  made  to  rest  on  the 
concessions  of  the  author  of  Timothy.  The  report  of  the  com- 
mittee says:  "  The  author  of  that  article,  having  been  permitted 
to  address  the  committee,  acknowledged  that,  in  not  properly 
distinguishing,  in  two  instances,  he  had  done  injustice,  giving 
the  general  character  of  the  Bishop's  address ;  that  some  of  the 
inferences  he  had  drawn  were  unjust,  and  that,  as  his  premises 
were  incorrect,  all  the  inferences  drawn  from  them  might  be 
erroneous." 

Now,  on  this  quotation  from  the  committee's  report  on  my 
concessions  to  Bishop  Hedding,  the  following  remarks  will  be 
important.  First :  it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  a  willingness 
on  my  part,  amid  all  the  hostile  feeling  against  reform  then 
and  there  prevalent,  to  meet  the  cdfee  in  a  fair  and  honorable 
manner,  and  do  ample  justice  to  the  character  of  Bishop  Hed- 
ding. Secondly :  to  say  "  the  author  of  that  article  having  been 
permitted  to  address  the  committee,"  does  not  convey  the  true 
idea.  He  was  there  at  the  invitation  of  Bishop  Hedding  and 
two  of  the  members  of  the  Conference,  and  was  not  seeking 
"permission  to  address  the  committee,"  but  was  requested  by 
the  Bishop  and  the  committee  to  do  so.  All  that  was  said  by 
me  on  that  occasion  was  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  "friendly 
explanation"  of  the  difficulty  between  Mr.  Hedding  and  myself, 
in  view  of  a  contemplated  pacification  between  the  two  contend- 
ing parties ;  hence,  in  matters  of  concession,  I  went  as  far  as 
I  possibly  could.  Thirdly :  the  report  of  the  committee  says  I 
"acknowledged  that,  in  not  properly  distinguishing,  in  two  in- 
stances, I  had  done  injustice  in  giving  the  general  character  of 
the  Bishop's  address."  So  I  really  did  believe  at  that  time, 
being  misled  in  this  matter  by  a  sincere  confidence  which  I  had 
reposed  in  the  accuracy  of  the  Bishop's  statement  of  the  wrongs 
I  had  done  him.  Fourthly:  but  why  is  the  committee's  report 
so  incomplete?  Why  did  tliey  not  state  as  fully  in  their  report, 
as  I  did  in  their  presence,  what  the  two  instances  were  in  which 


MY   DEFENSE.  177 

I  liad  done  tlie  Bisliop  "injustice?"  My  guilt  or  innocence 
was  to  be  made  out.  If  they  had  stated  fully  and  fairly  what 
I  conceded  in  their  presence,  they  could  not  have  reported  that 
the  Bishop's  charge  against  me  was  sustained.  But  if  they  left 
the  "two  instances"  unstated,  then  they  could  bring  me  in 
guilty  of  every  thing  charged,  and  no  one  could  gainsay  their 
decision.  Fifthly :  I  can  allow  the  committee  and  their  friends 
all  I  conceded  as  to  the  use  of  the  two  words,  "reform"  and 
"discussion,"  in  too  large  and  comprehensive  a  sense;  and  that 
it  might  hence  be  inferred  that  the  Bishop  was  against  the  elec- 
tion of  Presiding  Elders  and  private  discussion  of  Church  pol- 
ity by  the  preachers  ;  and  it  will  not  logically  follow,  from  all 
this,  that  my  entire  address  is  a  mass  of  corruption,  a  great 
conglomeration  of  "injustice,"  "misrepresentation,"  and  "vile 
slander."  Sixthly:  but  after  the  foregoing  concessions  were 
made,  and  I  had  carefijlly  reexamined  the  whole  matter,  I 
found  that  I  had  been  in  error  in  making  them.  Timothy's 
Address  does  not  represent  Bishop  Hedding  as  opposing  all 
mariner  of  reform  and  all  manner  of  discussion,  but  only  the 
kind  of  "reform"  and  "discussion"  advocated  in  the  Mutual 
Rights.  The  Bishop's  Presiding  Elder  reform  had  no  place 
in  that  periodical,  nor  had  his  private  discussions  between  the 
preachers  themselves  apart  from  the  people.  All  cool-headed, 
impartial  men  would  understand  me  to  represent  the  Bishop  as 
opposing  the  kind  of  "reform"  contended  for  in  the  Mutual 
Rights,  and  not  all  manner  of  "reform;"  as  opposing  "discus- 
sion" as  carried  on  in  that  periodical,  and  not  private  "discus- 
sion." The  words  used  by  me  iu  my  address,  and  the  period- 
ical in  which  my  article  was  published,  limited  the  meaning  of 
the  words  reform  and  discussion,  so  as  to  leave  the  Bishop  un- 
troubled about  the  little  reform  he  befriended  and  the  jxrivate 
discussion  he  alloioed.  Why  did  not  Bishop  Hedding  see  this 
matter  in  the  light  now  presented,  and  forbear  making  his  un- 
just chai-ge  against  Timothy?  Why  did  not  I  first  examine 
my  address  to  him  carefully  before  I  made  any  concessions? 
We  often  find  out  a  little  too  late  what  should  have  been 
done. 


178  EECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

I  shall  now  bring  this  defense  to  a  close,  by  introducing  tes- 
timony from  Dr.  Clark's  Life  and  Times  of  Bishop  Heddiug, 
pages  327-328.  He  says:  "The  three  [Shinn,  Baseom,  and 
Brown]  had  been  favorably  situated  for  the  propagation  of 
their  radical  views."  "It  was  claimed  that  the  radicals  had  the 
ascendency."  "The  radicals,  too,  had  adroitly  drawn  in  Bishop 
Hedding,"  as  favoring  all  their  "radical  measures."  This  whole 
matter  had  been  "  laid  open  to  the  Bishop  by  one  of  the  Presiding 
Elders."  "The  wisest  and  best  men  in  the  Conference  were 
perplexed  and  alarmed."  "The  Bishop  was  sorely  afflicted  at 
this  state  of  affairs,  and  was  indignant  at  the  unwarrantable 
statements  that  had  been  made  concerning  himself."  This  Pre- 
siding Elder,  aided  by  Dr.  Bond's  book,  had  succeeded  in  get- 
ting up  some  excitement,  and  had  roused  the  Bishop,  who  now, 
we  are  told,  (page  354),  "was  compelled  to  breast  the  storm  of 
radical  innovation  at  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  in  182G."  We 
are  then  informed  by  Dr.  Clark,  that  his  "firmness,  decision, 
and  ability  were  equal  to  the  task  before  him.  Then,  in  a  most 
masterly  speech  to  the  Conference,  he  exposed  the  unfounded 
assumptions  of  the  radicals,  the  evils  that  would  inevitably 
result  to  the  Church,  should  they  succeed,  and  especially  the 
wickedness  and  baseness  of  the  report  that  had  been  fabricated 
and  circulated,  that  he  in  any  measure  countenanced  the  course 
of  those  men,  whose  action  would  rend  and  destroy  the  Church. 
It  was  a  masterly  vindication  of  the  Church  and  of  himself. 
It  carried  consternation  into  the  hearts  of  the  radical  leaders. 
They  ventured  no  reply,  but  in  silence  saw  the  downfall  of  their 
hopes." 

Now,  from  all  the  foregoing,  taken  from  Dr,  Clark's  Life* 
and  Times  of  Bishop  Hedding,  will  it  not  follow,  most  inev- 
itably, that  Timothy's  Address  is  a  true  representation  of  the 
Bishop's  opposition  to  reform,  as  contended  for  in  the  Mutual 
Rights?  Timothy  has  only  reported  what  all  candid  men 
would  have  expected  from  a  Bishop  wonderfully  excited  by  a 
mischief-making  Presiding  Elder.  Dr.  Clark,  in  what  I  have 
quoted  from  his  book,  has  furnished  highly  probable  evidence 


MY   DEFENSE.  179 

of  the  truth  of  all  tlie  material  facts  contained  in  "  Timothy's 
Acidress  to  the  Junior  Bishop."  Such  an  address  as  Mr.  Bed- 
ding's, in  opposition  to  ecclesiastical  liberty,  deserved  such  a 
reply,  in  behalf  of  ecclesiastical  freedom,  as  that  given  by 
Timothy.  These  were  exciting  times,  and  from  the  party  in 
power  reformers  could  hardly  expect  impartial  justice. 


180  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 


CHAPTER   X. 

A  Chuech  Trial  iti  Steubentiile  in  1827— A  Lady  Preacher— Conference  in  Merceb 
County— New  Lisbon  Circuit— Determination  to  Leave  the  Church— Reasons 
FOR  so  Doing— Invitation  to  go  to  Pittsburgh— Acceptance— Letter  to  my  Pre- 
siding Elder. 

At  the  Conference  in  Steubenville,  in  1827, 1  was  reappointed 
to  tlie  charge  of  the  Steubenville  Station  by  Bishop  George,  at 
the  particular  request  of  an  informal  delegation  of  leading  mem- 
bers, who  waited  upon  him  in  behalf  of  the  Church  to  secure 
my  return.  In  this  instance  the  brethren  did  not  deem  it  best 
to  leave  my  standing  and  usefulness  among  them  to  be  repre- 
sented to  the  Bishop  by  my  Presiding  Elder,  Rev.  W.  Lambdin, 
a  man  of  prejudices  against  reform  entirely  too  strong,  in  their 
opinion,  to  be  able  to  do  me  justice.  This  Presiding  Elder  had 
invited  me,  in  company  with  Bishop  George,  to  attend  the  camp- 
meeting  already  alluded  to,  which  occurred  just  before  the  sit- 
ting of  Conference.  "When  there,  he  did  not  think  it  advisable 
to  invite  me  to  preach,  nor  did  I  preach  until  he  was  gone.  On 
Saturday  night,  in  a  crowd  near  the  preachers'  stand,  I  heard 
loud  talking,  and  went  in  among  the  people  to  learn  what  was 
going  on.  Several  friends  from  Steubenville  were  with  me,  and 
there  we  heard  the  Elder  laying  grievous  things  to  the  charge 
of  the  reformers,  and  against  me  personally,  and,  alas  for  his 
statements !  there  were  none  of  them  true.  He  there  stated  that 
I  had,  by  getting  up  the  Union  Society,  done  the  Church  a  great 
injury,  and  that  it  was  in  a  bleeding,  divided,  and  ruined  con- 
dition. Neither  of  these  statements  was  true.  Rev.  J.  Monroe 
advised  the  formation  of  the  Union  Society.  I  did  not  belong 
to  it,  nor  did  I  ever  attend  it;  and  at  that  time  the  harmony 
of  the  Church  was  unbroken. 


A    CHURCH    TRIAL    IX    STEUBENVILLE.  181 

In  view  of  this  evil  treatment  of  me  personally,  the  brethren 
left  the  Elder  to  one  side,  and  went,  by  their  own  deputation,  to 
the  Bishop,  and  urged  my  return  a  second  year  to  their  station. 
This  camp-meeting  statement,  made  by  the  Elder,  ultimately 
led  to  a  Church  trial,  in  which  the  Elder  was  seriously  involved, 
John  Armstrong,  while  at  work  in  a  meadow,  was  informed  that 
the  Elder  had,  at  the  aforesaid  camp-meeting,  stated  publicly 
that  I  had  formed  the  Union  Society,  and  thereby  divided  and 
ruined  the  Church.  On  hearing  this,  Armstrong  replied  that, 
if  the  Elder  did  make  that  statement,  it  was  a  lie,  and  he  could 
prove  it.  In  a  short  time  the  Elder  got  to  hear  what  brother 
Armstrong  had  said,  and  immediately  laid  in  a  complaint  to  me, 
as  preacher  in  charge,  against  him.  I  advised  a  milder  course — 
"sinful  words  and  tempers"  required  "admonition,"  etc.  But 
the  Elder's  pluck  was  up,  and  he  would  let  me  know  that  such 
a  foul  charge  against  his  character  should  not  go  unpunished. 
"Well,"  said  I,  "you  are  the  Presiding  Elder,  and  if  this  trial 
is  allowed  to  go  on,  you  will  be  in  an  awkward  position:  you 
are  the  complainant,  and  will  have  to  be  the  prosecutor;  and, 
in  case  of  an  appeal,  you  will  be  in  the  chair  of  the  Quarterly 
Conference,  so  the  appeal  will  be  to  his  accuser  and  prosecutor. 
This  will  not  look  well."  He  then  said  he  did  not  care  how  it 
looked ;  no  member  of  the  Church  should  call  him  a  liar  and 
escape  a  Church  trial.  "But  mind,"  said  I,  "Armstrong  spoke 
conditionally;  he  said  if  you  made  a  certain  statement  at  the 
camp-meeting  it  was  a  lie,  and  he  could  prove  it.  Now,  you 
know  whether  you  made  that  statement  or  not.  so  I  leave  it 
with  you  to  determine  whether  this  trial  is  to  go  on  or  not." 
The  Elder  then,  with  a  great  deal  of  warmth,  demanded  a 
Church  trial. 

A  committee  was  duly  selected  to  try  the  case,  and  the  time 
was  appointed.  The  trial  was  in  the  church,  and  there  were 
many  spectators  on  that  occasion.  After  prayer  and  other  in- 
troductory formalities,  I  read  the  charge.  It  was  immorality. 
Specification :  calling  Rev.  Wm.  Lambdin  a  liar,  in  a  certain 
meadow,  in  the  presence  of  certain  witnesses.  "  John  Arm- 
strong," said  I,  "do  you  plead  guilty  or  not  guilty?"     "  I  plead 


182  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

guilty,"  said  Armstrong.  "It  was  said  in  my  presence,  in  the 
meadow,  that  our  Presiding  Elder  had  stated,  in  a  crowd  at  the 
camp-meeting,  that  our  stationed  preacher  had  got  up  the  Union 
Society  in  Steuh,enville,  and,  as  a  consequence,  our  Church  was 
in  a  bleeding,  divided,  and  ruined  condition.  This  statement 
amazed  me,  and  I  said  if  the  Elder  did  say  that,  it  was  a  lie, 
and  I  could  prove  it.  I  want  now  a  direct  answer  from  my 
accuser,  in  the  presence  of  this  committee  and  these  spectators: 
did  you,  sir,  make  the  statement  in  question?"  The  Elder 
alleged  that,  as  the  accused  had  acknowledged  himself  guilty 
of  the  charge,  he  had  nothing  further  to  do;  and  appealed  to 
me  in  the  chair  to  know  if  he  must  answer  Armstrong's  ques- 
tion. I  decided  that  the  question  should  be  answered,  as  said 
answer  might  materially  affect  the  decision  of  the  committee  in 
the  case,  and  a  just  decision  could  not  be  reached  unless  the 
whole  truth  were  given  in  evidence.  The  Elder  then  found 
himself  hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  and  that  he  himself  was  the 
man  on  trial  rather  than  Armstrong.  If  he  denied  making  the 
statement  at  the  camp-meeting,  Armstrong  had  six  witnesses 
(of  whom  I  was  one)  to  prove  that  he  did  make  it.  If  he 
acknowledged  that  he  did  make  it,  then  the  accused  had  some 
twenty  witnesses  to  prove  the  statement  false.  So,  after  keep- 
ing the  Elder  standing  a  long  time  before  the  committee,  and 
failing  to  get  an  answer  to  the  question,  I  persuaded  Armstrong 
to  forbear  pressing  the  matter  any  further,  and  submitted  the 
case  to  the  committee,  and  the  spectators  retired.  The  Elder 
lost  his  cause.  Armstrong  was  relieved  of  the  charge  of  immo- 
rality by  the  committee,  but,  on  my  own  responsibility,  I  admin- 
istered to  him  an  admonition  for  the  rashness  of  his  language. 
This  Presiding  Elder  was  not  the  first  man  who  in  his  wrath 
dug  a  pit  for  his  neighbor  and  had  the  mortification  to  fall  into 
it  himself.  M.  E.  Lucas,  M.  M.  Laughlin,  and  John  Leech,  of 
Steubenville,  who  are  still  living,  were  all  witnesses  of  the  afore- 
said Church  trial,  and  can  attest  the  correctness  of  my  narrative. 
This  Church  trial  was  in  the  early  part  of  my  second  year  in 
Steubenville,  and  is  here  introduced  as  a  part  of  my  history; 
and  the  whole  case  illustrates  the  futile  efforts  of  short-sighted, 


A   LADY   PREACHER.  183 

uarrow-mincled  men — who  by  some  means  had  got  into  power — 
against  the  friends  of  ecclesiastical  freedom. 

Another  occurrence  which  belongs  to  my  first  year  in  Steu- 
benville,  and  forms  a  part  of  my  history,  it  may  now  be  proper 
to  narrate.  A  lady  preacher  from  one  of  the  Northern  States, 
of  fine  literary  attainments,  ardent  piety,  and  highly  accom- 
plished manners,  visited  Steubenville  in  the  summer  of  1827. 
Miss  Miller  was  her  name.  She  came  highly  recommended  to 
me  by  a  number  of  distinguished  Methodist  preachers.  Among 
the  testimonials  she  brought  was  one  from  Rev.  Charles  Elliott, 
and  another  from  Rev.  John  Waterman,  of  the  Pittsburgh  station. 
These  brethren,  having  heard  her  preach  often,  spoke  in  the 
highest  terms  of  her  preaching  abilities;  and  they  expressed  a 
hope  that  her  way  would  be  opened  by  me  to  be  useful  among 
our  people.  This  excellent  lady  was  courteously  entertained  at 
the  house  of  Dr.  David  Stanton.  An  appointment  for  her  to 
preach,  on'  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  to  the  people  of  my  charge, 
was  announced  in  all  the  schools  and  papers.  When  the  Sab- 
bath came  the  congregation  was  far  too  large  for  the  house,  and 
the  eiSect  of  her  pious,  tasty  eloquence  on  that  audience  was 
overwhelming.  The  fame  of  this  lady  preacher  soon  reached 
the  neighboring  towns,  and  she  had  invitations  to  preach  in 
every  direction.  The  invitation  to  visit  Wlieeling,  on  the  next 
Sabbath,  was  very  special  and  urgent,  for  that  was  the  time  of 
their  quarterly  meeting.  So  appointments  were  sent  to  Smith- 
field,  Harrisville,  Mount  Pleasant,  and  Wheeling;  and,  at  the 
request  of  Dr.  Stanton  and  other  friends,  I  took  Miss  Miller  in 
a  carriage  to  fill  these  appointments;  and  she  had  for  a  travel- 
ing companion,  during  the  tour.  Miss  Nancy  Norman,  sister-in- 
law  to  Dr.  Stanton.  At  the  first  three  aj^pointments  the  con- 
gregations were  exceedingly  large,  and  the  preaching  of  that 
lady  was  very  impressive,  and,  no  doubt,  profitable  to  the  people. 
On  Friday,  in  the  afternoon,  we  arrived  at  the  house  of  brother 
Daniel  Zane,  on  the  island,  intending  to  make  that  place  our 
home  while  at  Wheeling.  On  Saturday  morning,  immediately 
after  breakfast.  Rev.  Henry  Furlong,  the  stationed  preacher, 
John  List,  a  prominent  member,  and  the  Presiding  Elder  came 


184  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

over  to  the  island  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Miller, 
and  to  know  of  her  when,  or  at  what  hours,  it  would  suit  her 
to  preach.  Miss  Miller  very  frankly  informed  them  that  she 
had  understood,  since  her  arrival  on  the  island,  that  Bishop 
Soul6  had  written  them  a  letter  that  he  would  be  in  Wheeling 
on  Saturday  evening,  and  if  he  came,  it  would  not  do  for  her  to 
attempt  to  preach. 

On  hearing  this,  these  brethren  said  the  Bishop  was  moving 
to  the  West,  with  his  family,  and,  as  a  weary  traveler,  might  not 
be  in  a  condition  to  preach ;  at  any  rate,  he  was  not  invited  to 
by  them,  but  she  was,  and  the  citizens  of  Wheeling  generally 
would  expect  her  to  preach  the  next  morning.  To  this  Miss 
Miller  replied  that  Bishop  Soule  had  always  opposed  her, 
wherever  he  had  crossed  her  path,  and  had  spoken  of  her  in  a 
disrespectful  manner,  as  a  strolling  country  girl,  who  had  no 
authority  to  preach,  and  she,  therefore,  greatly  desired  to  be 
excused  from  preaching,  as  she  wished  to  have  no  collision  with 
the  Bishop.  The  Elder,  Furlong,  and  List  then  became  more 
importunate  than  ever,  saying  they  represented  the  wishes  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  entire  community  of  Wheeling — all 
wanted  her  to  preach,  and  would  be  greatly  disappointed  if  she 
did  not  do  it.  But  Miss  Miller  still  continued  firm  in  her  res- 
olution, as  the  hazard  of  collision  with  so  distinguished  a  func- 
tionary as  Bishop  Soule  was  vei'y  painful  to  her  mind.  At 
that  stage  of  the  matter,  I  interposed  in  behalf  of  the  lady, 
and  entreated  the  brethren  to  forbear  pressing  the  matter  any 
further,  as  I  was  unwilling,  as  her  protector,  to  do  any  thing 
myself,  or  allow  any  thing  to  be  done  by  others,  that,  in  her 
opinion,  would  cause  so  much  distress  of  mind.  The  three 
brethren  then  drew  off  and  consulted  together.  List  went 
home;  the  Elder  and  Furlong  remained  on  the  island  for  din- 
ner. When  dinner  was  over,  the  effort  was  renewed  by  the 
Elder  and  Mr.  Furlong  to  induce  Miss  Miller  to  preach. 
They  urged  that  the  wishes  of  the  entire  Church  and  all  the 
citizens  should  not  be  set  aside  and  disregarded  for  fear  of 
offending  Bishop  Soule,  or  any  other  man.  What  right  had 
the  Bishop  in  this  case?     They  could  see  none;  so  she  must 


A   LADY    PREACHER.  185 

preach.  Finally,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  with  tears 
in  her  eyes,  Miss  Miller  gave  her  consent  that  it  might  be  aS 
they  desired ;  that,  if  spared  and  blessed  with  health  and  strength 
.  equal  to  the  occasion,  she  would  fill  the  morning  appointment. 
After  an  early  supper,  the  Elder  went  to  his  room,  in  the  city, 
to  prepare  for  preaching  in  the  evening.  Mr.  Furlong  went  to 
the  hotel  to  await  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Soule,  and,  in  a  short 
time,  the  Zane  family,  with  Miss  Miller,  Miss  Norman,  and  my- 
self, all  repaired  to  the  Church  to  hear  the  Presiding  Elder 
preach. 

While  the  first  hymn  was  being  sung,  in  came  Furlong,  in 
great  haste,  in  very  perceptible  agitation  of  mind,  and  took  me 
from  the  altar  Avith  him  into  the  pulpit.  "Bishop  Soule  and 
family,"  said  he,  "have  come,  and  the  Bishop  is  sorely  dis- 
pleased with  the  arrangement  for  to-morrow.  Immediately  on 
his  arrival,  he  made  inquiry  as  to  what  our  arrangements  were 
for  the  Sabbath.  I  informed  him  that  brother  Brown,  at  the 
instance  of  our  people,  had  brought  Miss  Miller,  a  lady  preacher, 
with  him  to  attend  our  quarterly  meeting,  and  the  arrangement 
is  for  Miss  Miller  to  preach  in  the  morning,  and  you  [Bishop 
Soule]  at  three  o'clock,  and  brother  Brown  at  night.  The 
Bishop  replied :  '  I  highly  disapprove  of  your  arrangement.  I 
will  not  hear  that  girl.  She  has  no  authority  to  preach. 
Brother  Brown  had  better  have  stayed  at  home,  minding 
his  own  work,  than  to  be  accomjjanying  that  strolling  girl 
about  the  country.'  On  hearing  this,  I  immediately  left  the 
Bishop,  and  have  come  to  see  if  the  arrangement  can  not  be 
changed." 

"Now,  Furlong,"  said  I,  "do  not  attempt  to  change  the  ar- 
rangement. You  can  not  change  it  and  keep  good  faith  with 
that  young  lady.  You  have  invited  her  here  to  preach.  You 
knew  this  morning  that  the  Bishop  was  coming,  yet,  with  this 
knowledge,  you  and  your  colleagues,  from  early  in  the  morning 
until  late  in  the  afternoon,  have  urged  her  to  preach.  She 
frankly  acknowledged  her  dread  of  the  Bishop ;  I  interposed  in 
her  behalf,  and  still  you  urged  the  matter.  Your  argument 
was,  that  all  the  members  of  the  Church  and  all  the  citizens 
12 


186  EECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

wanted  to  hear  her.  That  argument  is  still  good.  You  can  not 
now  make  a  change  without  deeply  wounding  her  heart  and  dis- 
appointing public  expectation.  Come,  now,  be  firm — do  not  vio- 
late good  faith  with  that  young  lady." 

By  this  time  the  text  was  read  and  the  sermon  commenced, 
80  our  conversation  ceased ;  but  as  I  sat  there,  silent,  in  the 
pulpit,  and  in  my  heart  admitted  the  general  goodness  of  the 
stationed  preacher  and  the  Elder,  I  had  my  fears  that  they  both 
lacked  firmness  to  meet  the  present  emergency.  The  terrors  of 
the  Bishop  were  upon  them,  and  under  their  influence,  to  act 
correctly  would  be  no  easy  matter  to  men  of  their  feeble  nerve. 
While  I  was  closing  service  by  singing  and  prayer,  I  heard  the 
two  brethren  change  the  whole  programme  for  the  coming  Sab- 
bath, which  was  immediately  announced  by  the  Elder,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Bishop  Soule  will  preach  here  to-morrow  at  eleven 
o'clock,  and  not  Miss  Miller.  I  will  j^reach  at  three  o'clock, 
and  brother  Brown  at  night." 

On  hearing  this  announcement,  I  said,  in  my  heart,  my  part 
of  the  work  will  not  be  done;  so,  taking  my  hat  and  cane,  I 
stepped  down  into  the  altar,  to  go  immediately  out,  feeling  pro- 
foundly indignant  at  what  had  taken  place.  Rev.  S.  R.  Broek- 
unier,  being  a  little  excited,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  us,  said,  "Hi! 
hi !  hi !  what  is  the  matter  now  ?  Is  not  that  lady  to  preach 
at  all?"  Then  spoke  I  unadvisedly  with  my  lips,  and  said, 
"  A  great  bull  has  come  to  town,  and  given  a  roar,  and  scared 
all  the  preachers !  I  '11  take  that  lady  right  back  to  Steuben- 
ville  in  the  morning;  she  shall  not  be  abused  among  ye."  So 
I  joined  my  company  and  returned  to  the  island.  That  night 
I  reconsidered  the  matter,  and  determined  to  remain  over  Sun- 
day, and  give  the  Wheeling  community  an  opportunity  to  hear 
Miss  Miller  in  some  other  house.  Neither  the  members  of  the 
Church  nor  the  citizens  had  done  her  any  wrong,  nor  would 
Furlong  or  the  Elder,  if  they  had  not  been  terror-stricken  by 
the  Bishop.  On  Sunday  morning  early,  several  of  the  disap- 
pointed and  mortified  brethren  of  the  city  came  over  to  the 
island  to  arrange  for  Miss  Miller  to  preach  in  some  other  house 
at  the  eleven-o'clock  hour,  and  thus  let  Bishop  Soule  and  her 


A    LADY    PREACHER.  187 

come  into  exact  competition  for  public  favor.  None  doubted 
but  the  lady  preacher  would  carry  off  the  multitude  and  leave 
the  Bishop  with  a  very  slender  congregation,  and  that  his  harsh 
treatment  of  that  lady  did  merit  for  him  such  a  public  j^unish- 
ment;  but,  for  various  reasons,  another  and  I  think  a  better 
course  was  adopted.  The  brethren  agreed  to  accept  the  offer 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  for  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  and 
John  List  was  to  have  the  appointment  announced  at  the  close 
of  service  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  so,  having  made 
this  arrangement,  all  went  to  hear  the  Bishop  and  be  present 
at  communion,  except  myself.  I  felt  too  deeply  wounded  by 
the  Bishop's  haughty  and  injurious  language  concerning  "  that 
strolling  girl,"  as  he  harshly  called  her,  and  my  leaving  my 
work  to  "accompany  her  about  the  country,"  to  see,  or  hear,  or 
commune  with  the  Bishop  that  day ;  and  I  sent  word  to  that 
effect  to  the  Presiding  Elder,  who,  no  doubt,  informed  that 
Church  dignitary  all  about  the  matter. 

When  the  afternoon  appointment  came  on,  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  was  much  too  small  for  the  audience.  There 
were  about  as  many  people  outside  of  the  house  as  could  crowd 
inside.  Miss  Miller,  according  to  her  custom,  stood  in  the  altar. 
Neither  in  her  opening  prayer  nor  in  her  sermon  did  she  make 
any  allusion  to  any  opposition  from  the  Bishop  or  any  body 
else.  Her  discourse  was  truly  evangelical,  abounding  with  j5ne 
thoughts,  beautiful  delineations,  and  tasty  eloquence,  all  of  a 
heavenly  character.  The  doors  and  windows  being  open,  and 
her  voice  clear  and  strong,  she  was  well  heard,  I  was  told,  by 
those  on  the  outside  of  the  house.  God  gave  her  help  in  time 
of  need.  Her  strength  of  body  and  soul  was  equal  to  the  oc- 
casion, and  the  impression  upon  that  great  assembly  was  very 
fine.  At  the  request  of  the  Methodist  brethren,  she  preached 
at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  on  Monday,  in  their  house.  The  congre- 
gation was  large,  and  her  discourse,  in  my  judgment,  was  every 
way  equal  to  the  one  delivered  on  Sunday.  On  Tuesday,  Miss 
Miller  preached  in  Wellsburg,  to  a  large  assembly,  in  her  usual 
heavenly  strain,  with  very  fine  effect,  and  in  the  evening  we 
returned  to  Steubenville,  where  she  rested  a  few  days  at  my 


188  RECOLLECTIONS    OP    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

house ;  and,  after  preaching  for  my  people  the  following  Sun- 
day, with  great  credit  to  herself  and  benefit  to  the  Church,  she 
went  on  her  way  to  the  East,  and  ultimately  became  the  wife 
of  Rev.  William  A.  Smith,  D.  D.,  of  the  Virginia  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

When  the,  Conference  came  on  in  Steubenville — where  I  had 
to  meet  the  Hedding  case,  already  narrated  —  the  Presiding 
Elder  who  had  figured  in  the  foregoing  transaction  in  Wheel- 
ing took  me  out  of  Conference,  before  my  character  passed  that 
body,  and  gave  me  notice  that  he  intended  to  bring  a  charge 
against  me,  for  misusing  Bishop  Soule  in  Wheeling.  "  Well," 
said  I,  "  do  so,  in  welcome,  and  I  will  at  the  same  time  hold  you 
responsible  to  the  Conference  for  violating  good  faith  with  Miss 
Miller.  Had  you  kept  good  faith  with  that  lady,  there  would 
have  been  no  occasion  for  my  speaking  in  that  rough  manner 
of  the  Bishop,  as  '  a  great  bull  that  had  come  to  town  and 
given  a  roar,  and  scared  all  the  preachers.'  You  were  scared 
into  a  most  glaring  violation  of  good  faith,  and  I  shall  hold  you 
accountable.  Come,  now,  go  ahead;  I  am  ready  to  meet  the 
case."  The  Elder  then  said:  "I  reckon  we  had  better  drop  it; 
there  is  no  use  in  bringing  such  matters  into  Conference."  So 
there  the  matter  ended.  The  Elder  had  not  the  nerve  to  ke^p 
good  faith  even  with  a  lady,  when  a  Bishop  frowned  on  his  act 
in  so  doing.  Furlong  was  overruled  in  this  matter  by  the  Elder, 
and  was,  therefore,  not  deserving  of  blame;  hence,  I  have  men- 
tioned his  name  as  a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  the 
Elder's  name  is  not  mentioned,  because  he  violated  faith  with  a 
most  amiable  Christian  lady,  and  outraged  the  feelings  of  the 
entire  Wheeling  community,  and  all  this  for  fear  of  the  frowns 
of  a  Bishop,  who  lacked  courtesy  to  accommodate  himself  to 
the  state  of  the  times.  Yet,  upon  the  whole,  the  Elder  was  a 
good  man,  and  was  useful  to  the  Church.  His  lack  of  nerve 
ought  to  be  forgiven.  ' 

My  two  years  in  Steubenville  were  among  the  most  pleasant 
years  of  my  life  in  the  ministry.  That  station  included  a  con- 
siderable number  of  noble-hearted,  influential  members.  I  had 
some  very  valuable  outside  friends,  and  God  gave  me  a  good 


NEW    LISBON    CIRCUIT.  189 

degree  of  success  in  building  up  the  Church..  The  increase  'of 
members  is  not  now  recollected,  but,  by  the  Divine  favor,  I  had 
many  seals  to  my  ministry.  Of  these,  some  have  gone  to  their 
heavenly  home;  others  have  "made  shipwreck  of  faith  and  a 
good  conscience;"  and  a  few  yet  remain  true  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  and  I  trust  will  be  faithful  until  death,  and  receive  the 
crown  of  life.  But  toward  the  close  of  my  second  year,  as  party 
lines  became  more  distinctly  drawn  on  the  reform  question,  I 
did,  on  that  account,  suffer  the  loss  of  several  old  and  highly 
valued  friends.  This  was  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  the 
Presiding  Elder,  who  seemed  incapable  of  being  the  friend  of 
any  man  who  was  active  in  the  cause  of  lay  delegation. 

At  the  Conference  of  1828,  in  Mercer  County,  Pennsylvania, 
held  at  Leech's  Meeting-house,  in  connection  with  a  camp- 
meeting,  I  was  appointed  to  the  charge  of  New  Lisbon  Circuit, 
with  Rev.  Isaac  Winans  for  my  assistant.  This  was  my  last 
Conference,  and  my  last  year  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
At  that  Conference  Bishop  Roberts  presided,  and  in  a  private 
interview  he  gave  me  some  needful  encouragement,  supposing 
I  had  suffered  much  in  mind  on  account  of  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Episcopacy  being  published  in  the  New  York  Ad- 
vocate. Well,  the  Bishop  was  right;  I  had  suffered  on  account 
of  that  uncandid,  illogical,  and  most  unrighteous  publication. 
But  most  of  all  did  I  suffer  from  the  defeat  of  the  appeals  of 
Dorsey  and  Pool,  right  over  Shinu's  overwhelming  argaxment, 
by  the  caucus  management  reported  to  me,  as  already  stated, 
by  Bascom.  When  I  found  that  Methodist  preachers,  in  whom 
I  had  all  through  life  placed  so  much  confidence,  could  allow 
themselves  to  defeat  justice,  and  cause  the  innocent  to  suffer  by 
the  trickery  of  caucus  pledges  on  paper,  I  lost  confidence  in  my 
brethren,  and  was  powerfully  tempted  by  the  devil,  for  about 
one  whole  year,  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion. 
According  to  a  pamphlet  published  by  Revs.  A.  Griffith,  Gr. 
Morgan,  B.  Waugh,  and  John  Emory,  a  caucus  pledge  on  paper, 
at  the  General  Conference  of  1820,  defeated  the  Presiding  Elder 
law.  Now,  if  we  judge  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  by  the  con- 
duct of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  who,  when  they  fail  to  accom- 


190  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

plish  tlieir  purposes  in  a  General  Conference  by  fair  arg-ument, 
resort  to  the  underhanded  management  of  a  secret  caucus  pledge 
on  paper  to  carry  their  measures  against  reformers,  we  shall 
certainly  be  led  into  doubts.  Alas!  for  me,  I  had  done  this, 
and  my  doubts  had  filled  my  soul  with  great  distress;  nor  could 
the  fatherly  kindness  of  Bishop  Roberts  relieve  me.  Always, 
while  preaching,  I  had  full  faith  in  Christianity;  so  I  had,  too, 
in  time  of  prayer,  and  in  all  other  religious  exercises.  But 
when  alone,  my  doubts  returned,  and  my  soul  was  troubled. 
But  a  thorough  reexamination  of  the  Evidences  of  the  Truth 
of  Christianity,  written  by  Paley  and  Chalmers,  removed  all  my 
doubts  and  restored  my  happiness.  0,  what  a  blessed  thing  it 
is  to  be  firmly  grounded  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  ! 

Conference  being  over,  I  returned  home  and  prepared  for  a 
removal  to  New  Lisbon.  At  no  time  of  my  itinerant  life  did 
I  feel  so  much  reluctance  to  leave  a  people  whom  I  had  served 
in  the  ministry,  as  I  did  at  that  time  to  be  separated  from 
my  kind-hearted  brethren  and  friends  in  Steubenville.  On  the 
morning  we  started  for  our  new  appointment,  very  much  to  my 
surprise,  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  members  of  the  Church, 
with  a  few  outside  friends,  male  and  female,  in  carriages  and 
on  horseback,  accompanied  us  to  Newburg,  nine  miles  on  our 
way.  There  we  all  dined  together  and  prayed  together,  after 
which  we  had  a  very  tender  parting.  They  returned  to  Steu- 
benville, and  I,  with  my  family,  went  on  our  journey  to  New 
Lisbon. 

My  reception  on  New  Lisbon  Circviit  was  by  no  means  cor- 
dial. The  members  of  the  Church  knew  nothing  of  me,  except 
that  I  was  a  reformer;  and  the  enemies  of  reform  had  prepared 
their  minds  to  give  me  rather  a  cool  reception.  My  colleague 
was  a  married  man.;  this  was  his  first  year  in  the  itinerancy, 
and  he  was  received  and  appointed  with  only  the  claim  of  a 
single  man  as  to  salary.  This  he  did  not  know  until  he  came 
to  the  circuit,  as  he  had  not  been  at  Conference.  He  was, 
therefore,  much  discoui'aged,  and  announced,  at  the  first  quar- 
terly meeting,  his  determination  to  return  to  his  home.  In  my 
heart  I  disapproved  of  taking  any  promising  young  man,  with 


NEW   LISBON    CIRCUIT.  191 

a  wife,  into  the  Conference  on  any  such  hard  terms,  and  asked 
the  Quarterly  Conference  to  .make  brother  Wiuans  and  myself 
equal  as  to  pay.  This  act  pleased  my  colleague  and  the  breth- 
ren, and  at  once  gave  me  public  favor.  It  was  said,  "  If  our 
preacher  in  charge  is  a  reformer,  his  reform  principles  have  not 
destroyed  his  generosity."  So  I  retained  my  colleague,  found 
him  a  fast  friend  and  a  valuable  fellow-laborer;  nor  did  I,  from 
that  day  forward,  lack  friends  or  the  necessaries  of  life  while 
I  remained  on  that  circuit.  I  will  here  add  that,  throughout 
a  pretty  long  life,  God  never  let  me  lose  any  thing  by  acts  of 
generosity  to  those  in  distress. 

Throughout  the  whole  time  I  remained  on  New  Lisbon  Cir- 
cuit the  Chvirch  had  prosperity,  but  in  the  midst  of  it  all  I  was 
unhappy.  1.  My  doubts  as  to  the  truth  of  Christianity,  already 
mentioned,  still  returned  upon  me  whenever  I  was  alone.  2. 
The  action  of  the  Church  authorities  in  Baltimore,  and  other 
places,  especially  in  the  General  Conference  in  Pittsburgh,  against 
reformers,  was,  in  my  judgment,  so  unjust,  so  much  like  the 
slippery,  serpentine  management  of  worldly  politicians,  as  mate- 
rially to  weaken  my  confidence  in  my  brethren  in  the  ministry. 
This  gave  me  great  pain  of  mind.  3.  All  the  members  I  received 
into  the  Church  were  placed  under  an  ecclesiastical  government 
which  ignored  the  rights  of  the  laity.  Thus  I  was  strengthen- 
ing an  establishment  which  I  believed  to  be  contrary  to  the 
self-evident  laws  of  nature,  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  lessons  of  Church  history,  and  the  best  interests  of  mankind. 
This  gave  me  much  concern.  4.  The  structure  of  the  Conven- 
tional Articles,  adopted  for  the  government  of  the  Associated 
Methodist  Churches  by  a  convention  of  reformers,  in  Balti- 
more, in  1828,  did  not  suit  me.  They  seemed  to  give  the  local 
preachers  an  undue  power  in  the  government.  Here,  again,  I 
was  in  trouble.  5.  During  the  first  half  of  the  year  my  Pre- 
siding Elder  gave  me  trouble  by  trying  to  turn  my  people 
against  me,  because  of  my  reform  principles.  He  would  leave 
the  quarterly  meetings  before  they  were  half  over,  on  the  ground 
of  my  being  a  reformer,  and  therefore,  as  he  said,  did  not  like 
Presiding  Elders,  and  he  did  not  like  to  be  where  I  was.     On 


192  KECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

two  occasions,  in  liis  sermons,  he  attacked  reformers  and  handled 
them  very  roughly ;  all  of  which  \jas  meant  for  me,  as  there  was 
no  other  avowed  reformer  present.  But  as  the  year  wore  away, 
this  weak  brother  changed  his  course,  and  came  in  on  me  upon 
the  other  side.  Finding  that  he  could  not  bend  me  to  his  will 
by  harsh  treatment,  and  supposing  that  I  might  probably  leave 
the  Church  if  it  were  continued,  he,  all  at  once,  became  very 
mild,  and  treated  me  with  unusual  kindness,  proposing  to  use 
his  influence  in  my  behalf  at  the  next  Conference,  and  open  my 
way  to  one  of  the  best  stations.  I  understood  it  all,  and  let 
it  all  pass,  believing  that  my  days  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  were  fast  drawing  to  a  close. 

Letters  received  from  leading  reformers,  from  all  quarters,  in 
answer  to  letters  of  inquiry  written  by  me,  gave  me  full  assur- 
ance that  the  undue  power  given  to  the  local  preachers  by  the 
Conventional  Articles  of  1828  was  only  a  temporary  arrange- 
ment; that  the  Convention  of  1830,  in  the  formation  of  a  regu- 
lar Church  Constitution,  would,  by  instruction  from  the  primary 
assemblies,  give  us  a  well-balanced  form  of  Church  government, 
securing  ecpal  rights  to  all  parties  concerned.  So  I  hesitated 
no  more  as  to  my  future  course. 

To  build  up  religion  and  religious  liberty,  both  together,  was 
the  great  work  to  which  I  then  prepared  to  devote  my  life. 
Yet,  while  on  New  Lisbon  Circuit,  I  did  nothing  to  advance 
the  cause  of  reform.  This  forbearance  on  my  part  was  not 
owing  to  any  pledge  given  by  me  to  be  silent,  but  mainly  to 
my  distressing  doubts  as  to  the  truth  of  Christianity  itself. 
Why  perplex  myself  about  Church  government,  if  Christian- 
ity itself  be  nothing  but  a  cunningly-devised  fable  ?  But 
now,  having  once  more  examined  the  arguments  of  Paley  and 
Chalmers  in  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
feeling  myself  fully  confirmed  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  I 
felt  ready,  as  above  stated,  to  do  all  within  the  compass  of 
my  power  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christ  upon  liberal  princi- 
ples. 

He  who  changes  his  Church  relations  should  have  very  good 
reasons  for  so  doing.     My  reasons  are  found  in  the  following 


REASONS    FOR    LEAVING    THE    CHURCH.  193 

statement,  which  I  drew  up  about  one  year  before  I  left  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  .  I  give  the  substance  of  the  state- 
ment, a  little  modified: 

I.  In  1784,  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  at  the  organization  of 
the  government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Dr.  Coke 
and  Francis  Asbury,  and  a  few  itinerant  preachers,  did  then  and 
there  boldly  march  up  to  a  principle  of  ecclesiastical  polity  and 
take  it  into  their  safe-keeping,  after  which  the  Roman  clergy 
struggled,  by  tarick,  stratagem,  and  pious  fraud,  for  1160  years 
before  they  laid  their  hands  upon  it,  and  took  it  into  their  safe- 
keeping; and  when  they  got  it,  the  Church  was  ruined.  The 
principle  is  this,  namely :  that  to  the  itinerant  clergy  alone  does 
pertain,  of  divine  right,  all  legislative  and,  virtually,  all  judicial 
and  executive  power  over  the  whole  Church,  leaving  nothing 
to  the  local  preachers  and  the  lay  members  but  absolute  sub- 
mission to  their  will,  or  expatriation  from  the  Church.  Their 
will,  officially  expressed  by  a  delegation  of  itinerant  ministers 
from  the  several  Annual  Conferences  of  preachers  in  the  Glen- 
eral  Conference,  is  now  the  law  of  the  Church,  against  which 
there  is  no  balance  of  power,  no  check  or  defense,  in  any  way. 
A  single  Pope  never  sat  on  St.  Peter's  chair  at  Rome  for 
1160  years  without  the  elective  voice  of  the  people,  as  may 
be  seen  by  an  appeal  to  Mosheim's  and  Gregory's  Church  His- 
tories ;  but  when  had  the  local  preachers  and  lay  members  a 
voice  in  the  election  of  Bishops  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church?     Never! 

II.  In  changing  the  title  of  Superintendent,  in  1787,  for  that 
of  Bishop,  without  the  consent  of  the  American  Conference,  (see 
Lee's  History  of  the  Methodists,  p.  128,)  and  contrary  to  the 
express  instructions  of  Mr.  Wesley,  (see  Moore's  Life  of  Wes- 
ley, p.  285,)  and  thus  becoming  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
independent  of  Mr.  Wesley,  Dr.  Coke,  Mr.  Asbury,  and  the  itin- 
erant preachers,  with  the  aid  of  the  high-sounding  title  ^^Bishop," 
did  abundantly  strengthen  themselves  in  the  possession  of  the 
power  which  they  assumed  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the 
government.  Titles  draw  courtiers,  power,  and  prerogatives  after 
them. 


194  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

III.  According  to  Lee's  History  of  the  Methodists,  (p.  183,) 
the  jiower  to  make  Presiding  Elders,  which  was  first  assumed 
by  the  Bishops,  and  "used  for  several  years"  without  law,  was 
finally  established  to  said  Bishops  by  the  General  Conference. 
This  gave  them  a  power  over  the  whole  Church,  which,  indeed, 
really  looks  alarming.  This  Presiding  Elder  system  gives  a 
kind  of  ubiquity  to  a  Bishop,  for  by  it  he  is  in  all  places 
throughout  the  entire  territory  of  Methodism,  with  eyes  to  see, 
ears  to  hear,  and  hands  to  handle  all  ecclesiastical  matters.  It 
renders  the  whole  government,  in  its  practical  operations,  ex- 
ceedingly powerful. 

IV.  In  1796,  according  to  Lee's  History  of  Methodism,  (p. 
234,)  a  deed  of  settlement  was  got  up,  to  be  carried  into  execu- 
tion throughout  the  whole  connection,  so  far  as  the  civil  author- 
ities and  laws  would  allow.  This  deed  makes  Church  property 
a  kind  of  common  stock ;  or,  at  least,  the  use  of  it  is  made  com- 
mon to  all  the  Methodists  in  every  state  and  every  Conference. 
It  is  placed  under  the  absolute  legislative  control  of  the  General 
Conference  of  ministers,  for  the  people  can  only  use  it  according 
to  their  legislation.  It  is  placed  under  the  absolute  appointing 
power  of  the  Bishops,  who  have  power  to  put  the  occupants  into 
the  pulpits  and  parsonages,  without  consulting  any  will  but  their 
own.  Thus  the  itinerant  clergy,  by  taking  this  anti-Christian 
hold  of  the  temporalities  of  the  people,  have  immense  power 
over  them.  By  controlling  the  property  they  control  the  peo- 
ple themselves,  "for  power  over  a  man's  substance  really  does, 
in  most  instances,  amount  to  a  power  over  his  will." 

V.  In  1808,  the  restrictive  instrument,  improperly  called  a 
constitution,  was  formed,  by  which  the  Bishops  became  officers 
for  life.  The  General  Conference  became  a  delegated  body,  and 
the  whole  government  was  so  saddled  vipon  the  Methodist  com- 
munity, by  the  itinerant  ministry  alone,  that  no  vital  changes  can 
be  effected  or  hoped  for,  without  the  consent  of  the  Annual  Con- 
ferences and  a  vote  of  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  subse- 
quent General  Conference.  This  the  Bishops,  if  so  disposed,  can 
easily  hinder,  as  they  hold  all  the  appointing  power,  and,  conse- 
quently, all  the  Church  livings,  in  their  hands. 


REASONS    FOR    LEAVING    THE    CHURCH.  195 

VI.  In  1820,  if  I  mista-ke  not,  the  Bishops  became  pensioned 
upon  the  Book  Concern  at  New  York  for  all  their  table  ex- 
penses. Henceforth,  they  are  not  to  know  want  like  other  itin- 
erant preachers.  Their  support  is  as  certain  as  that  wealthy 
establishment  can  make  it.  Numbers  have  given  them  power. 
Wealth  of  membership  has  given  them  power :  for  what  would  a 
king  be,  with  all  his  arbitrary  principles  of  government,  without 
men  and  money  in  his  dominions? 

Thus  we  see  that  the  principles  assumed  by  the  itinerant 
clergy  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  the  time  of  the 
organization  of  their  ecclesiastical  government,  are  without  a 
parallel  in  our  country  for  their  tyrannical  character.  In  these 
principles  the  itinerant  clergy  have  become  amazingly  strength- 
ened by  their  various  additions,  and  by  nothing  have  they  been 
more  strengthened  than  by  their  firm  grasp  on  Church  property, 
through  the  medium  of  the  "deed  of  settlement,"  and  the  con- 
stitution, as  they  call  it,  of  1808.  These  gird  the  government 
fast  upon  the  people,  and  leave  them  no  hope  but  in  ecclesias- 
tical expatriation. 

VII.  This  ecclesiastical  power  is  professedly  held  by  the  itin- 
erant ministers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  as  a  divine 
right,  granted  to  them  by  the  great  Head  of  the  Church.  Only 
hear  the  General  Conference  of  1828 :  "  The  great  Head  of  the 
Church  himself  has  imposed  on  us  the  duty  of  preaching  the 
Gospel,  of  administering  its  ordinances,  and  of  maintaining  its 
moral  discipline  among  those  over  whom  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
these  respects,  has  made  us  overseers.  Of  these,  also,  viz.,  of 
Gospel  doctrines,  ordinances,  and  moral  discipline,  we  do  believe 
that  the  divinely  instituted  ministry  are  the  divinely  authorized 
expounders ;  and  that  the  duty  of  maintaining  them  in  their 
purity,  and  of  not  permitting  our  ministrations,  in  these  respects, 
to  be  authoritatively  controlled  by  others,  [a  lay  delegation,  for 
instance,]  does  rest  upon  us  with  the  force  of  a  moral  obliga- 
tion, in  the  discharge  of  which  our  consciences  are  involved." 

A  very  learned  and  sagacious  Catholic  priest  saw  in  this  mani- 
festo of  the  General  Conference  a  family  likeness,  and  pub- 
lished it  in  the  Catholic  Telegraph,  in  Cincinnati,  declaring  that 


196  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

the  Cliureli  of  Rome  never  made  a  higher  chxim  to  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical  power  than  this.  Why,  then,  shall  I  not  oppose 
the  popery  of  Methodism,  as  well  as  the  popery  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  ?  I  hold  both  alike  have  departed  from  the  teachings 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  and  both  alike  to 
be  unwilling  to  be  reformed.  St.  Peter,  in  his  first  epistle,  chap. 
V,  3d  verse,  clearly  forbids  the  Elders  of  the  Church  to  exercise 
a  lordship  over  God's  heritage;  and  Paul,  in  his  second  epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  chap,  i,  2-tth  verse,  places  a  veto  on  minis- 
terial dominion  over  the  faith  of  the  saints ;  and  the  Saviour, 
in  Matthew,  chap,  xx,  25th  and  2Gth  verses,  in  rebuking  the 
aspiring  ambition  of  James  and  John,  said:  "Ye  know  that  the 
princes  of  the  Gentiles  exercise  dominion  over  them,  and  they 
that  are  great  exercise  authority  upon  them.  But  it  shall  not 
be  so  among  you."  In  Mark,  chap,  x,  42d  verse,  this  Gentile 
dominion  is  called  a  "  lordship."  So  it  is  in  Luke,  chap,  xxii, 
25th  verse.  Here,  then,  we  have,  in  this  Gentile  government, 
the  words  "lordship,"  "dominion,"  and  "authority,"  all  im- 
plying an  absolute  power  over  the  people,  against  which  there 
was  no  check,  balance,  or  defense,  in  any  legal  way.  Now,  our 
Lord  forbids  this  kind  of  Geutile  lordship,  dominion,  and  au- 
thority on  the  part  of  his  ministers  over  his  Church,  and  says, 
"It  shall  not  be  so  among  you."  I  forbid  that  thing.  There 
shall  be  no  such  lordship,  dominion,  or  authority,  on  the  part 
of  my  ministers  over  my  members,  as  there  is  on  the  part  of 
the  princes  of  the  Gentiles  over  the  Gentiles — "ii!  shall  not  be 
so  amoiiff  i/6u."  With  doctrines,  piety,  and  morals  all  so  pure, 
scriptural,  and  holy,  why  did  the  Methodist  preachers,  after  the 
example  of  the  Romish  clergy,  institute  a  Church  government 
so  contrary  to  Christ's  teaching,  and  so  Gentile  in  its  charac- 
ter? Could  the  voice  of  the  people  have  been  heard  in  1784, 
such  a  government  never  would  have  been  formed.  But  now 
that  it  exists,  who  can  hope  to  change  it  for  the  better?  The 
following  ecclesiastical  law,  found  in  the  discipline,  stands  guard 
against  all  reform.  "If  any  member  of  our  Church  shall  be 
clearly  convicted  of  endeavoring  to  sow  dissension  in  any  of  our 
societies  by  inveighing  against  either  our  doctrines  or  discipline, 


INVITATION    TO    GO    TO    PITTSBURGH.  197 

such  person  so  offending  shall  be  first  reproved  by  the  senior 
minister  or  preacher  of  his  circuit,  and  if  he  persist  in  such. 
pernicious  practices,  he  shall  be  expelled  from  the  Church." 

On  this  rule,  very  properly  denominated  "  the  gag-law,"  a 
few  remarks  may  be  allowed.  First :  It  puts  the  discipline 
made  by  men  on  a  level  with  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  and  re- 
gards inveighing  against  each  as  equally  criminal,  and  awards 
to  each  a  similar  punishment — first,  reproof,  then  expulsion. 
Secondly  :  The  government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
is  of  itinerant  origin,  and  is  wholly  in  itinerant  hands,  and  is 
so  strictly  and  powerfully  guarded  by  this  odious  "gag-law," 
that  reformation  becomes  impossible.  Thirdly :  He  who  at- 
tempts a  reforming  process  must,  necessarily,  point  out  some- 
thijig  wrong  in  the  government,  or  in  the  administration,  or  in 
both;  and,  if  he  does  this,  and  perseveres  in  so  doing,  "the 
divinely  authorized  expounders"  of  the  law  will  deem  him  an 
incurable  inveigher  against  the  government  and  those  who  ad- 
minister it,  and  "expel  him  from  the  Church."  This  is  about 
the  ground  upon  which  all  the  expulsions  in  Baltimore  and 
elsewhere  have  been  effected. 

Now,  in  view  of  the  arbitrary  principles  of  the  government 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  above  stated;  and  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  itinerant  ministers  in  many  localities, 
and  finally  in  the  General  Conference  of  1828,  had  brought 
their  whole  power  to  bear  upon  reformers,  to  crush  them  and 
their  cause  under  the  aforesaid  "gag-law;"  and  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  my  principles  as  well  as  my  friends  had  been  expelled 
from  the  Church,  and  that  my  writings  had  been  made  a  ground 
of  charge  against  the  expelled ;  and  in  view  of  the  fact,  too, 
that  all  hope  of  an  honorable  restoration  of  the  expelled  breth- 
ren was  now  cut  off  by  the  degrading  terms  ofiered  to  them  by 
the  General  Conference,  I  did  deem  myself,  in  principle  and  in 
honor,  bound  to  go  with  them  into  ecclesiastical  banishment. 

Near  the  close  of  May,  1829,  brother  Thomas  Freeman,  a 
messenger  from  Pittsburgh,  came  to  me  in  Wellsville,  Ohio,  with 
a  letter  from  the  reformers  in  that  city,  inviting  me  to  come  and 
organize  them  into  a  Church,  under  the  Conventional  Articles. 


198  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

To  this  letter  I-  I'eplied,  tliat  I  would  comply  with  their  wishes 
so  soon  as  I  could  return  home  to  my  family,  in  New  Lisbon, 
and  make  my  arrangements.  But,  being  a  little  delayed  by  the 
brethren,  and  by  affliction  in  my  family,  I  wrote  them  the  fol- 
lowing letter: 

"New  Lisbon,  31ay  27,  1829. 
"Dear  Brethren: 

"Your  second  communication  has  been  received,  and  I  hasten 
to  inform  you  that  on  next  Sabbath  I  close  my  labors  forever 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  I  had  supposed  myself 
already  done,  and  had  fixed  on  this  morning  to  be  oif  for  Pitts- 
burgh; but,  by  an  importunity  that  I  could  not  resist,  on  the 
part  of  my  brethren  and  other  friendly  citizens,  I  have  been 
overcome.  I  love  this  people :  they  have  evinced  a  friendship 
for  me  and  mine,  during  my  residence  among  them,  that  has 
made  me  greatly  their  debtor ;  and,  besides,  they  are  nearly  all 
reformers,  so  far  as  they  understand  the  subject,  and  they  de- 
sire me  to  state  my  reasons,  on  Sunday,  for  leaving  the  old 
establishment.  This,  through  Divine  help,  I  design  doing  at 
the  close  of  my  second  sermon,  in  as  clear  and  candid  a  manner 
as  possible. 

"  There  is  another  consideration  of  some  moment.  Mrs. 
Brown's  health  is  still  very  feeble ;  but,  thank  God,  it  improves 
a  little,  and  against  next  week  I  can,  in  all  probability,  leave 
home  with  more  propriety  'than  now.  I  shall  be  off  on  Mon- 
day next,  God  willing,  and  shall  probably  be  with  you  on  Tues- 
day next.  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  brother  Sliinn, 
inviting  me  to  Cincinnati,  to  form  a  circuit  round  that  city. 
He  assures  me,  on  good  authority,  that  a  good  circuit  could  be 
formed  in  a  very  little  time.  I  have,  also,  received  official  in- 
formation from  Ohio  Circuit,  stating  that  they  go  at  the  end 
of  this  Conference  year,  and  will  take  no  preachers  from  the 
old  side.     They  have  asked  me  to  come  over  and  help  them. 

"I  have  just  received  another  private  communication  from 
*>i«^>i;*  Circuit,  calling  for  help.  The  "divinely  authorized" 
have  forbidden  a  very  respectable  local  preacher,  whom  no 
threats    could  terrify  into  silence,   the  occupancy  of  some  of 


LETTER   OF   ACCEPTANCE.  199 

their  pulpits,  and  tlie  brethren  think  this  is  the  proper  time  to 
be  oif.  The  circuit  is  large — say  one  thousand  strong — and  it 
is  thought  a  majority  of  them  are  reformers.  The  letter  stated 
that  .the  Conventional  Articles,  though  somewhat  objectionable, 
would  be  adopted  for  the  present.  If  we  can  only  get  a  con- 
stitution formed  on  purely  republican  principles,  under  the 
blessing  of  our  glorious  Lord,  we  shall  abundantly  succeed 
with  a  liberty-loving  people.  I  think  the  day  may  yet  come 
when  w^,  who  are  only  becoming  a  people,  shall  sit  under  our 
own  vine  and  fig-tree,  eating  the  pleasant  fruit  of  ecclesiastical 
liberty,  none  daring  to  make  us  afraid.  Our  opposing  brethren, 
from  the  Bishops  down,  have  done  all  they  could  to  crush  the 
Mutual  Rights,  but  surely  they  have  failed  of  success.  Much 
less  will  they  be  able  to  withstand  us,  when  our  preachers  go 
an  person,  preaching  the  same  Gospel,  carrying  with  them  the 
same  moral  rules  of  holy  living,  giving  the  people  an  itinerant 
ministry,  love-feasts,  class-meetings,  and  distributing  our  prin- 
ciples of  government  in  pamphlets  as  they  go.  Ours  is  the 
glorious  cause  of  ecclesiastical  emancipation,  and  has  no  ene- 
mies in  America,  save  on  the  old  side ;  and  I  greatly  miss  my 
guess  if  the  very  means  which  they  have  employed,  and  are 
now  employing,  against  us  and  our  cause,  do  not  ultimately 
help  us  in  many  ways. 

"  Give  my  love  to  all  the  holy  brethren  of  like  precious  faith 
with  ourselves,  and  tell  them  that  I  desire  an  interest  in  their 
prayers.  I  am  a  frail  child  of  the  dust.  I  tremble  much  at 
the  vastness  of  our  undertaking.  Our  help  is  in  the  strong  God 
of  Zion.  He  inhabits  eternity,  but  his  eye  is  on  the  truth,  and 
on  him  who  loves  it,  however  poor  he  may  be.  Him  I  love, 
and  most  ardently  long  for  that  perfect  liberty  from  sin  which 
he  alone  can  give;  and  I  most  cordially  believe  that  we  need 
not  remain  in  ecclesiastical  bondage  in  order  to  enjoy  this  'glo- 
jious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.' 

"Very  aflPectionately,  yours,  etc., 

"W.  Stevenson,  "^  "GeO.  BrOWN. 

"S.  Remington,    y  Commiiiee." 

"C.  Ckaig, 


200  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

According  to  my  promise,  as  intimated  in  the  foregoing  let- 
ter, at  the  close  of  my  second  sermon  on  the  following  Sunday, 
my  reasons  for  leaving  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  were 
given  in  a  calm  and  candid  manner  to  a  crowded  audience.  As 
those  reasons  have  been  already  introduced,  in  consecutive  or- 
der, I  need  not  here  repeat  them.  It  may  be  proper  to  observe, 
however,  that  before  that  audience  I  enlarged  on  various  points 
to  a  considerable  extent,  so  as  to  render  every  thing  as  satisfac- 
tory as  possible.  When  I  returned  home,  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  and  many  of  the  citizens  came  to  me,  filling 
up  the  house  and  the  yard,  wishing  to  know  more  about  reform. 
They  stayed  until  a  late  hour  at  night,  pressing  me  hard  to  re- 
main with  them,  and  organize  them  into  a  Church  under  the 
Conventional  Articles.  This  I  could  not  do,  as  I  was  pledged 
to  the  brethren  in  Pittsburgh.  Finding  I  must  go  the  next 
morning,  they  then  got  from  me  a  few  copies  of  the  Conven- 
tional Articles,  held  a  meeting  during  the  week,  and  adopted 
the  Articles  themselves,  without  any  preacher  to  help  them. 
These  brethren  remained  firm  in  the  reform  cause  all  summer, 
waiting  and  calling  for  ministerial  help.  At  our  first  Confer- 
ence, held  in  Cincinnati,  October,  1829,  Rev.  C.  Springer  was 
appointed  to  New  Lisbon;  but,  from  some  cause,  never  yet  ex- 
plained, he  failed  to  go  to  that  people  until  in  the  winter.  By 
that  time  they  were  discouraged,  and  the  most  of  them,  just 
before  his  arrival,  returned  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
This  delay  did  an  injury  to  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
in  that  place,  which  we  have  never  been  able  to  overcome. 

On  Monday  morning  I  "was  off  for  Pittsburgh.  On  Tuesday 
evening  I  reached  my  destination,  and  was  very  kindly  received 
and  comfortably  entertained  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Charles 
Avery,  in  Alleghany.  On  Wednesday  I  wrote  the  following 
letter  to  my  Presiding  Elder : 

"  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  June  3,  1829. 
"My  Dear  Brother  Eddy: 

"The  time  has  now  arrived  for  me  to  follow  my  principles,  as 
a  reformer,  or  abandon  them.     I  have  taken  time  and  written 


LETTER  TO  MY  PRESIDING  ELDER.         201 

extensively  to  the  reformers,  and  particularly  to  the  members  of 
the  convention  in  Baltimore,  and  am  now  satisfied  as  to  the  ob- 
jectionable articles.  They  and  all  the  rest  were  well  meant, 
and  for  the  present  may  be  useful;  and,  for  my  own  part,  I  do 
not  entertain  a  single  doubt  that  the  Convention  of  1830  will 
construct  an  ecclesiastical  government  which  will  be,  in  all  re- 
spects, perfectly  congenial  with  republican  principles  and  feel- 
ings. 

My  feeble  services  have  been  called  for  in  four  different  direc- 
tions. The  brethren  of  three  out  of  four  desired  me  to  be  in 
readiness  against  a  certain  time,  but  the  fourth  was  a  call  that 
would  admit  of  no  delay.  Being  unable  to  ascertain  where  a 
communication  would  find  you,  on  your  district,  and  being 
much  pressed  with  other  business  about  the  time  I  left  New 
Lisbon,  I  have  delayed  until  now  to  inform  you,  as  my  Pre- 
siding Elder,  that  on  last  Sabbath  my  labors  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  were  brought  to  a  final  close.  I  have  many 
valuable  friends  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  the 
ministry  and  among  the  members.  I  now,  as  heretofore,  testify 
my  affection  for  the  doctrines,  class-meetings,  love-feasts,  moral 
discipline,  sacraments,  and  itinerancy  of  the  Church.  But  the 
government  I  do  most  conscientiously  disapprove;  and  since  all 
hope  of  change  is  new  cut  off,  and  since  the  brethren  who  were 
expelled — in  part  on  my  account — can  not  honorably  return, 
and  since  a  new  Church  had  to  be  formed,  I  have  deemed  my- 
self bound,  by  all  the  principles  of  Christian  honor,  to  go  with 
the  reformers.  You  will  hot  understand  me  to  have  one  unlov- 
ing sentiment  or  feeling  about  my  soul  in  reference  to  you.  No, 
my  brother,  nor  have  I  in  reference  to  a  single  individual,  this^ 
day,  on  earth.  I  love  my  God.  I  love  his  people  of  every 
name.  I  desire  the  happiness  of  all  the  human  race.  I  go  with 
the  reformers  because  I  love  their  principles;  and  my  prayer  to 
the  great  and  glorious  Lord  of  the  whole  creation  is,  that  they 
may  universally  prevail ! 

"With  great  respect,  I  am,  etc., 

"  Geo.  Brown, 
"Rev.  Ira  Eddt,  P.  E.,  Ohio  District." 

13 


202  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

To  leave  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  my  par- 
ents had  lived  and  died,  and  in  which  I  had  myself  labored 
and  suffered  nearly  fifteen  years  in  the  itinerant  ministry,  and 
in  which,  among  the  preachers  and  members,  I  had  so  many 
warm-hearted  friends,  was  indeed,  to  me,  a  trial  of  no  ordinary 
magnitude.  But  my  principles  lay  in  the  reform  ranks,  and  for 
those  principles  and,  in  part,  for  my  writings  in  defense  of  them, 
my  friends  in  Baltimore  and  elsewhere  had  been  expelled  from 
the  Church.  I  did,  therefore,  really  feel  myself  under  the 
strongest  moral  obligation  to  leave  a  persecuting  Church,  and 
help  the  reformers  in  their  new  organization.  Self-respect, 
Christian  honor,  and  a  due  regard  for  truth,  all  required  me  to 
adopt  this  .course. 


CIIUECH   PROPERTY.  203 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Chufxh  Property— Plan-  to  Crush  Keform  in  Pittsbdroh— Effokt  to  Obtain  Posses- 
sion OF  Smithfield  Street  Church— Decision  of  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania 
IN  Favor  of  Reformers— Effort  to  Bring  Female  Influence  to  Beak  Against 
Keform— FiEST  Reform  Conference— Amdsino  Objection  to  Moral  Character — 
Convention  in  Baltimore— True  Piety  of  Ministers  and  Members  of  Methodise 
Episcopal  Church- Contemptuous  Treatment  from  Old  Friends. 

I  WENT  to  assist  tlie  reforniers  in  Pittsburgli,  iu  full  view  of 
the  facts  that  au  attempt  was  being  made  by  Rev.  AVm.  Lamb- 
din  to  crush  them,  and  that  they  intended  to  hold  fast  their 
interest  in  the  Church  property,  and  resist  his  efforts  to  the  last 
degree.  A  charter  had  been  obtained  from  the  Legislature  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  corporate  body  was  called  the  Methodist 
Church  of  Pittsburgh.  The  word  "Episcopal"  was  most  signifi- 
cantly left  out  of  the  charter,  as  indicating  the  reform  sentiment 
prevalent  when  the  instrument  was  obtained.  Nine  trustees, 
annually  elected  by  the  corporate  body,  held  the  property,  and 
had  full  charge  of  all  the  Church's  temporalities.  Seven  out  of 
the  nine  trustees  were  reformers.  These  seven,  at  the  instance 
of  the  whole  body  of  reformers,  called  for  me  through  the  me- 
dium of  a  committee. 

Having  arrived  among  the  brethren  io  Pittsburgh,  and  takeu 
up  a  temporary  residence  with  brother  Stephen  Remington,  I 
met  the  reformers  for  the  first  time,  June  3,  1829,  in  Kerr's 
School-hous6.  These  brethren  gave  me,  officially,  a  most  cor- 
dial welcome,  and  infornied  me  of  the  state  of  affairs;  to  all 
of  which  I  responded  in  an  address  of  considerable  length,  and 
commended  myself  to  their  prayers  and  to  the  care  and  help  of 
God,  for  I  felt  that  a  work  too  great  for  my  strength  was  now 
hefom  me.     Previous  to  my  arrival,  N.  Holmes  and  J.  Verner, 


204  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

the  two  anti-reform  trustees,  had  served  notices  on  the  reform 
portion  of  the  board,  threatening  them  with  legal  consequences 
if  they  dared  to  put  me  into  the  puipit  of  the  new  meeting- 
house. On  the  5th  of  June,  a  similar  notice  was  served  on  me 
by  the  preacher  in  charge,  and  on  the  same  day  another  by  the 
stewards.  The  sexton,  too,  R.  White,  a  noble-hearted  Irish 
brother,  was  likewise  forbidden  by  the  stewards,  on  his  peril, 
t)  allow  me  to  enter  the  Smithfield  Meeting-house.*  All  of 
this  looked  threatening;  but  it  was  no  more  threatening  than 
the  reformers,  under  legal  advice,  desired.  They  wanted  to  test, 
in  open  court,  the  validity  of  the  "Deed  of  Settlement"  found 
in  the  book  of  discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
So,  when  Sunday,  the  7th  of  June,  came,  I  appeared  at  the  door 
</f  the  church  at  nine  o'clock  A.  M.  There  I  was  met  by  Thos. 
Robinson,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  Stephen 
Remington,  Secretary  of  said  Board,  and,  with  one  of  them  on 
each  side  of  me,  I  was  conducted  up  the  aisle,  and  with  much 
formality  ushered,  by  legal  authority,  into  the  pulpit.  The 
congregation  was  large  and  attentive.  My  text  for  the  occasion 
was  taken  from  Isaiah,  xl,  31:  "But  they  that  wait  upon  the 
Lord  shall  renew  their  strength;  they  shall  mount  up  with 
wings  as  eagles;  they  shall  run,  and  not  be  weary;  and  they 
shall  walk,  and  not  faint."  That  day  I  opened  my  mission 
among  the  reformers  with  a  sermon  on  experimental  religion. 
Many  of  our  opponents,  who  were  present,  were  disappointed. 
They  came  expecting  to  hear  the  old  Church  abused,  and  to  get 
something  out  of  which  to  make  capital  against  us;  but  God 
led  my  heart  another  way.  to  the  gratification  and  comfort  of 
all  our  maltreated  people. 

At  three  o'clock  that  same  day  we  had  service  in  a  grove 
on  the  Alleghany  side;  but,  being  interrupted  by  a  storm,  my 
discourse  was  concluded  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  which  was 
near  at  hand.  The  congregation  was  exceedingly  large — a 
mixed  multitude,  made  up  of  all  denominations  and  nothing- 
arians of  all  sorts.    So  ended  this  first  day's  labor  in  the  reform 

*This  church  was  on  tlio  corner  of  Smithfield  and  Seventh  Streets,  and  was  called 
"Smithfield  Meeting -house,"  and  also  "Brimstone  Corner." 


PLAN    TO   CRUSH    REFORM    IN   PITTSBURGH  205 

ranks.  It  was  a  good  day  to  my  soul,  and  I  felt  quite  encour- 
aged to  hope  that  the  Lord  would  be  with  me  in  my  eiforts  to 
spread  religion  and  ecclesiastical  liberty  both  together.  From 
that  day  until  some  time  in  November,  the  reformers  occupied 
the  Smithfield  Meeting-house  at  nine  o'clock  A.  M.  and  at 
three  o'clock  P.  M.  every  Sabbath,  and  our  old-side  brethren 
held  service  each  Sabbath,  in  the  same  house,  at  eleven  o'clock 
and  in  the  evening.  The  house  was  likewise  occupied  by  each 
party  for  preaching  and  prayer-meetings,  on  separate  evenings 
during  the  week.  So  matters  stood  at  the  beginning  between 
the  parties. 

It  is  not  at  all  pi'obable  that  the  reformers  would  have  called 
me  to  Pittsburgh,  in  view  of  a  new  organization,  at  the  time 
they  did,  if  they  had  received  any  thing  like  fair  and  honorable 
treatment  from  Rev.  W.  Lambdin,  the  preacher  in  charge.  That 
gentleman  had  been  appointed  to  the  charge  of  the  Pittsburgh 
station  by  Bishop  Pwoberts,  (who  fully  understood  the  state  of 
affairs  in  that  city,)  with  a  solemn  pledge,  on  his  part,  to  the 
Bishop,  that  he  would  "know  no  man  after  the  flesh;"  i.  e,,  make 
no  difference  in  his  administration  between  reformers  and  their 
old-side  brethren  on  account  of  their  principles.  When  he 
came  to  the  pulpit  in  Pittsburgh,  he,  in  accordance  with  his 
pledge  to  the  Bishop,  declared  himself  in  favor  of  equal  justice 
to  all  parties.  This  declaration  put  the  reformers  off  their 
guard,  to  some  extent;  so  they  felt  themselves  in  no  hurry  to 
organize  a  new  Church.  After  some  time,  the  preacher  in 
charge,  in  a  meeting  of  old-side  leaders  and  a  few  other  confi- 
dential friends,  submitted  a  plan  for  the  overthrow  of  reform  in 
the  city  of  Pittsburgh.  The  plan  was  something  like  the  fol- 
lowing: 1.  To  induce  all  the  members  he  could  to  take  transfers 
from  reform  to  old-side  class-leaders.  2.  This  process  would 
have  the  effect  greatly  to  weaken  the  classes  of  reform  leaders 
and  strengthen  those  of  the  old-side.  3.  This  state  of  things 
would  justify  the  preacher  in  charge  in  removing  the  reform 
leaders  from  office,  because  of  the  non-prosperity  of  their  classes. 
4.  It  would  likewise  justify  him  in  dividing  the  classes  of  old- 
6ide  leaders,  now  grown  too  large,  and  appointing  other  leaders 


206  KECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

in  addition  —  men  in  all  respects  after  his  own  heart,  and 
suited  to  his  purposes.  5.  Thus  it  was  proposed  to  degrade  the 
reform  leaders  from  office,  and  by  this  new  accession  of  his  own 
creatures  into  the  leadership,  fill  up  the  Quarterly  Conference 
with  such  men  as  would  sustain  him  in  all  his  efforts  to  expel 
the  friends  of  ecclesiastical  liberty  from  the  Church. 

From  this  Jesuitical  plan  of  Mr.  Lambdin,  so  fully  disclosed, 
and  so  violative  of  his  pledge  to  the  Bishop  and  to  the  whole 
congregation,  two  of  his  leaders — John  McGill  and  Standish 
Peppard — turned  away  in  disgust,  and  went  and  communicated 
the  whole  matter  to  brother  Thos.  Robinson,  a  leading  reformer. 
Upon  the  receipt  of  this  information,  a  meeting  of  the  friends 
of  reform  was  called,  and  measures  were  immediately  taken  for 
a  new  organization.  Mr.  Lambdin,  on  the  14th  of  June,  made 
an  effort,  in  the  pulpit,  to  vindicate  his  course  in  relation  to  the 
transfers  in  question.  He  admitted  that  the  transfers  had  been 
made  from  the  classes  of  reform  leaders,  and  said  it  was  because 
the  members  could  not,  with  safety  to  their  souls,  remain  with 
those  leaders  any  longer.  But  this  statement  was  not  according 
to  truth,  for  he  transferred  many  against  their  will,  and  could 
not,  with  all  his  efforts,  induce  them  to  leave  the  reform  leaders 
and  go  to  the  old-side  classes.  The  violation  of  his  pledge  to 
Bishop  Roberts,  and  to  the  whole  Church  in  Pittsburgh,  to 
''know  no  man  after  the  flesh,"  and  make  no  difference  on 
account  of  ecclesiastical  sentiment,  could  not  be  explained  away 
in  the  estimation  of  the  community. 

On  the  18th  of  June,  a  committee  of  twenty-four  members, 
appointed  by  the  reformers,  met  at  the  house  of  Stephen 
Remington,  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  new  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ization. On  the  22d  of  June,  at  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the 
male  members,  the  plan  of  organization  prepared  by  the  com- 
mittee of  twenty-four,  and  recommended  by  the  attorneys, 
Walter  Forward  and  Henry  Baldwin,  was  taken  under  careful 
consideration,  and  the  vote  to  adopt  it  was  unanimous.  Then, 
on  Wednesday  night,  June  24,  1829,  a  thorough  effort  having 
been  made  to  have  the  whole  body  of  reformers  present,  both 
male  and  female,  after  calm  and  due  consideration,  the  "Meth- 


EFFORTS    TO    OBTAIN   POSSESSION   OF   A   CHURCH.       207 

odist  Church  of  Pittsburgh,"  by  a  solemn  vote,  entered  into  an 
organization  under  the  Conventional  Articles,  omitting  the  title 
Associated  Methodist  Church  for  the  present,  on  account  of 
their  claim  to  a  due  share  of  all  the  Church  property.  At  that 
same  meeting  I  was  elected  to  the  pastoral  charge  of  this  newly- 
organized  Christian  community.  This  .was  the  first  time,  in 
all  my  ministerial  life,  that  I  ever  received  a  pastoral  charge 
directly  from  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  I  am  sure  I  felt  much 
better  than  I  would  if  it  had  come  from  the  hands  of  a  Bishop. 
My  soul  felt  toward  this  flock,  thus  committed  to  my  care,  in 
a  manner  that  words  can  not  express.  I  felt  that  I  belonged 
to  the  Lord  and  to  his  Church,  and  that  to  glorifiy  God,  and 
serve  the  best  interests  of  his  people,  was  now,  more  fully  than 
ever,  to  be  the  great  aim  of  my  life. 

On  Thursday,  June  25,  James  Verner,  anti-reform  trustee, 
preferred  charges  to  Rev.  W.  Lambdin  against  all  the  reform 
trustees,  save  Rev.  C.  Avery,  to-wit:  against  Thomas  Robin- 
son, Stephen  Remington,  Charles  Craig,  John  Phillips,  An- 
drew Applegate,  and  Edward  Moore,  for  violating  the  charter, 
and  for  contempt  of  authority.  Specifications  accompanied 
the  charges,  and  all  were  summoned  to  appear  the  next  day, 
in  the  new  meeting-house  on  Smithfield  Street,  at  two  o'clock 
P.  M. 

Friday,  June  26.  Our  brethren  declined  Mr.  Lambdin's 
jurisdiction,  as  not  extending  over  them,  either  spiritually  or 
temporally.  Spiritually,  they  were  now  under  another's  pas- 
toral charge ;  and  temporally,  as  trustees,  they  were  amenable  to 
the  corporate  body,  under  the  charter.  Of  that  corporate  body 
Lambdin  was  not  a  .member;  and  to  the  charter  his  spiritual 
authority  was  unknown.  To  attempt  to  correct  pretended  vio- 
lations of  the  charter  in  an  ecclesiastical  court  was  nothing  but 
usurpation.  As  their  committee  meeting  was  not  for  public 
worship,  but  merely  an  efi"ort  to  get  possession  of  the  meeting- 
house, and  to  crush  reform.  Sexton  White  did  not  let  them  in; 
so  they  went  to  another  place,  proceeded  with  their  trial,  and 
expelled  all  the  reform  trustees,  save  Mr.  Avery,  who  was  im- 
mediately notified  to  meet  N.  Holmes  and  J.  Verner,  and  help 


208  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

to  fill  the  places  made  vacant  in  the  board  by  the  expulsions; 
but  he  did  not  obey  the  summons.  This  efi"ort  of  the  authori- 
ties made  no  hair  white  or  black.  The  reform  trustees  still 
held  the  property  under  the  charter,  and  both  parties  wor- 
ehiped  in  the  house. 

The  Church  property  question  gave  the  parties  a  long,  ex- 
pensive, and  vexatious  struggle.  If  my  recollection  is  not  at 
fault,  during  the  summer  of  1829,  the  reformers,  through  their 
lawyers,  presented,  at  diflferent  times,  four  distinct  propositions 
to  their  old-side  brethren  for  the  settlement  of  the  claims  of 
each  party  to  the  property.  One  proposition  related  to  the 
hours  at  which  divine  service  on  the  Sabbath  should  be  held; 
for  the  reformers  clearly  saw  that,  on  the  approach  of  winter, 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  would  be  too  early  an  hour  to  se- 
cure a  congregation.  These  propositions  all  failed  of  success, 
and  were  treated  with  disdain.  After  the  style  of  their  own 
Bishops,  on  another  occasign,  they  "knew  no  such  rights,  and 
comprehended  no  such  privileges,"  as  were  claimed  by  the  re- 
formers. Our  old-side  friends  had  more  female  members  than 
we,  but  our  male  members  were  more  numerous  than  theirs ; 
and  it  was  known  to  us,  and  might  have  been  known  to  them, 
that  the  reformers  had  by  far  the  most  money  invested  in  the 
Chuich  property  now  in  dispute.  Our  claim,  founded  on  money 
and  on  members,  was  half  the  property,  or  its  worth  in  money, 
and  an  equitable  proportion  of  the  time  for  its  use,  until  a  final 
adjustment  could  take  place.  Their  claim  was  all  the  property 
and  all  the  time,  and  that  we  should  go  forth  without  one  cent, 
and  do  for  ourselves  as  best  we  could.  In  view  of  this  state 
of  things,  our  brethren  determined  to  hold  on  to  the  property, 
under  the  charter,  and  give  the  other  party  the  chance  of  cast- 
ing us  out  by  a  writ  of  ejectment,  if  they  could.  If  they  must 
have  all,  let  the  court  so  determine,  and  if  it  did  so  decree,  we 
knew  full  well,  after  all,  that  moral  justice  was  on  our  side. 

James  Knox  was  the  old-side  sexton ;  Robert  White  was 
ours,  under  the  charter,  and  performed  all  the  duties  belonging 
to  his  OiSce  at  the  SmithSeld  Meeting-house;  while  Knox's  op- 
erations were  confined  exclusively  to  the  old  meeting-house  oa 


EFFORTS  TO  OBTAIN  POSSESSION  OF  A  .CnURCH.         209 

Front  Street,  which  was  not  in  the  occupancy  of  the  reform- 
ers. Toward  the  close  of  the  summer,  at  an  old-side  quarterly 
meeting,  Robert  White  prepared  the  bread  and  wine  for  the 
sacrament,  as  was  his  custom  on  such  occasions.  When  Rev. 
David  Sharp,  the  Presiding  Elder,  came  in,  he  went  to  the 
table,  and  said,  "Who  made  these  preparations  for  the  sacra- 
ment?" Some  one  answered,  "  Robert  White."  "Then,"  said 
the  Elder,  "take  them  away;  we  want  none  of  your  radical  bread 
and  wine.  Let  Knox  prepare  bread  and  wine  for  the  communion." 
This  angry  act,  in  the  house  of  God,  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
congregation,  on  the  Sabbath-day,  was  not  very  creditable  to  a 
Christian  minister.  It  showed  the  spirit  of  the  man  and  the 
temper  of  the  times,  and  was  in  perfect  keeping  with  his  con- 
duct upon  another  occasion.  At  a  camp-meeting,  near  Pitts- 
burgh, while  inviting  all  Christians  of  other  denominations  to 
the  communion,  he  lowered  himself  down  from  the  dignity  of  a 
Christian  minister,  and  called  our  people  "rads"  and  "schismatic 
scamps,"  and  said  he  "  did  not  mean  to  invite  them."  When 
Presiding  Elders  gave  us  such  usage,  what  might  we  not  expect 
from  men  of  lower  rank  and  lesser  growth? 

On  Monday,  in  the  afternoon,  our  old-side  brethren  held  their 
Quarterly  Conference  in  the  Smithfield  Meeting-house.  As 
they  continued  late,  R.  White,  our  sexton,  who  had  the  care  of 
the  house,  left  the  door  and  went  to  his  supper.  When  he  re- 
turned, the  old  locks  had  been  taken  from  the  doors  and  new 
ones  put  on,  and  the  keys  and  the  care  of  the  house  were 
committed  to  the  hands  of.  Sexton  Knox.  Our  sexton  opened 
his  eyes  very  wide  when  the  Presiding  Elder  told  him  that  "he 
had  remained  at  supper  a  little  too  long,  and  that  he  must  now 
go  and  tell  his  masters  that  they  could  not  use  that  house  any 
more."  This  matter  showed  craft,  and  was  a  good  joke  through- 
out the  city.  That  night  the  house  was  strongly  guarded  by  its 
captors,  and  the  reformers  left  them  undisturbed.  The  trustees 
met  in  the  evening,  for  consultation  with  our  attorneys  as  to 
what  next  was  to  be  done.  They  were  the  legal  holders  of  the 
property  for  the  corporate  body,  under  the  charter,  and  were 
advised  to  appoint  a  trustee  meeting,  in  the  new  meeting-house, 


210  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

at  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning,  and  see  whether  an  illegal 
party  would  obstruct  them.  When  morning  came,  a  whistling 
boy  from  the  street  reported  to  Stephen  Remington  that  the 
men  on  guard  were  all  gone  to  their  daily  avocations,  and  that 
the  sexton  and  another  old  man  were  sitting  in  the  meeting- 
house door,  talking — perhaps  about  the  fall  of  man,  or  the  de- 
pravity of  the  radicals  ! 

That  morning,  Thomas  Freeman  came  into  the  alley,  in  the 
rear  of  the  Church,  with  a  cart,  to  take  away  some  sand  which 
lay  within  the  meeting-house  lot.  While  removing  the  boards 
to  get  the  sand,  the  sexton  heard  the  noise,  and  went  round 
the  house  to  see  what  Freeman  was  doing.  On  being  informed 
that  he  was  after  some  sand,  the  sexton  supposed  all  was  right; 
so  he  returned  to  the  front  of  the  house,  and  seated  himself 
again  with  his  friend,  in  the  door,  to  renew  their  conversation. 
The  two  old  men  were  not  good  watchmen.  They  were  too 
jubilant  over  their  success  in  recovering  possession  of  the 
house,  and  the  consequent  defeat  of  the  radicals,  to  attend  to 
the  duties  assigned  them.  Stephen  Ptcmington  came,  by  an  un- 
observed route,  to  Freeman,  in  the  alley,  bringing  our  sexton, 
R.  White,  with  him,  and  they  entered  the  lot  at  the  place 
where  the  sand  was  being  taken  out.  With  a  suitable  iron  in- 
strument, the  shutters  of  a  window  were  opened  by  Remington, 
the  sash  quietly  raised,  and  in  went  Remington,  Freeman,  and 
White ;  nor  did  the  two  men  at  the  door  see  them  until  they 
were  half  way  down  the  aisle.  Remington's  eye  caught  sight 
of  the  keys  dangling  in  the  door.  To  get  them  into  his  cus- 
tody was  now  a  prime  object  with  him.  The  old-side  sexton 
came  at  him  with  his  cane,  aiming  heavy  blows  at  his  head. 
He  fended  off  bravely  with  his  uplifted  arms,  still  working 
round  until  he  got  his  back  toward  the  door — then  toward  it 
he  went,  faster  and  faster,  the  sexton  following  up  with  blow 
after  blow,  until,  in  the  door,  he  snatched  the  bunch  of  keys. 
"Here,  White,"  said  he,  "  take  these  keys  and  take  care  of  them. 
What  a  careless  thing  it  was  to  leave  them  dangling  in  the 
door!"  This,  for  the  present,  ended  the  matter.  The  sexton 
and  his  friend  were  put  out,  in  a  very  quiet  way;  we  again  had 


EFFORTS   TO    OBTAIN    POSSESSION   OF   A   CHURCH.       211 

full  possession  of  the  house,  and  the  trustees  held  their  meet- 
ing in  it,  according  to  appointnaent.  About  this  time,  in  Pitts- 
burgh, the  excitement  was  very  high,  but  it  was  mingled  with  a 
great  deal  of  mirth.  The  joke  was  fairly  rolled  back  upon  our 
old-side  brethren. 

In  the  niontli  of  November,  the  nine-o'clock  hour  was  deemed 
too  early  to  secure  a  good  congregation.  The  reformers  having 
failed  in  all  their  efforts  to  get  an  adjustment  of  property  mat- 
ters with  their  old-side  brethren,  and  finding  that  if  they  ever 
got  a  better  hour  than  the  one  they  had,  for  morning  worship 
on  the  Sabbath-day,  they  would  have  to  take  it.  In  the  hope, 
therefore,  of  retaining  the  congregation,  and  of  inducing  the  au- 
thorities in  the  opposition  to  bring  their  often-threatened  "writ 
of  ejectment,"  so  as  to  settle  the  whole  matter  in  court,  the 
trustees,  instructed  by  the  corporate  body,  and  advised  by  their 
attorneys,  passed  an  order  changing  the  time  of  public  worship 
from  nine  to  half-past  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  on  Sabbath-day, 
which  order  was  to  take  eff"ect  on  the  following  Sabbath  morn- 
ing. I  now  saw  plainly  that  a  very  great  trial  was  before  me; 
but  to  meet  it  was  a  necessity.  We  could  see  no  other  way  to 
save  our  congregation,  or  to  bring  the  property  question  into 
court  for  a  legal  decision  of  our  claims.  So,  with  much  prayer 
to  Grod  that  strength  might  be  given  me  according  to  my  day,  I 
resolved,  with  calmness  and  firmness  of  soul,  to  be  at  my  post  at 
the  time  appointed. 

This  change  of  time  had  become  generally  known.  When  I 
entered  the  church,  at  precisely  ten  o'clock,  there  sat  Stephen 
Remington,  wrapped  in  his  blue  cloak,  with  his  back  against  the 
pulpit  door,  keeping  guard.  He  looked  very  formidable,  for  he 
was  an  unusually  large  man.  And  there  sat  Rev.  Z.  Costen,  the 
old-side  preacher  in  charge,  on  the  outside  of  the  altar,  with  a 
paper  in  his  hand,  and  in  his  face  there  was  a  look  indicating 
firmness  of  purpose.  A  few  young  people  were  already  in  po- 
sition in  the  gallery  to  witness  the  transactions  of  that  day. 
When  I  went  forward,  Costen  arose  and  stood  firmly  against  the 
gateway  of  the  altar,  to  prevent  my  entrance.  He  then  gave  me 
the  paper  which  I  had  seen  in  his  hand.     This  paper  I  received, 


212  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

and,  without  reading  it,  put  it  in  my  pocket,  crossed  tlie  railing 
of  the  altar,  and.  Remington  opening  the  door  for  me,  I  went 
into  the  pulpit.  This  done.  Remington  resumed  his  seat  as  guard 
at  the  door,  and  Costen  returned  to  his,  beside  the  altar.  Imme- 
diately the  choir  appeared  in  the  gallery,  the  congregation  as- 
sembled for  worship,  and  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  were  com- 
menced. Remington  then  left  the  door  of  the  pulpit,  and  took 
his  usual  seat  in  the  assembly.  It  was  then  about  fifteen  minutes 
before  the  appointed  time  of  beginning,  as  set  forth  in  the  order 
by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  Just  at  the  close  of  the  first  hymn, 
which  was  sung  by  the  choir  and  the  whole  congregation  in  fine 
style,  in  came  the  old-side  brethren  in  full  force,  with  their  most 
sturdy  men  in  front,  pressing  on  quite  up  to  the  altar.  Seeing 
this,  our  men  of  might  and  courage,  from  all  parts  of  the  house, 
came  crowding  up  and  stood  beside  them.  These  strong  men  of 
both  sides,  now  standing  together,  seemed  to  be  measuring  each 
other,  with  the  eye,  from  head  to  foot,  as  if  war  was  about  to 
commence.  But,  the  hymn  being  ended,  I  called  the  whole 
assembly  to  prayer,  and  in  that  prayer  the  Lord  gave  me 
strength  to  help  in  that  time  of  need.  Costen,  who  had  got 
in  and  come  up  to  the  top  of  the  pulpit  steps,  responded 
"Amen"  to  many  of  my  petitions.  So  far  as  the  crowded 
condition  of  the  assembly  would  allow,  all  were  on  their  knees. 
Indeed,  it  seemed  to  be  a  praying  time,  and  the  usual  "amen" 
was  heard  in  various  parts  of  the  house.  AVhen  prayer  was 
over,  Costen  came  forward  and  handed  me  another  paper,  which, 
without  reading,  I  put,  as  in  the  other  instance,  into  my  pocket, 
still  keeping  my  place  close  up  in  the  pulpit,  with  my  left  hand 
on  the  Bible.  He  then  made  a  formal  demand  of  me  to  sur- 
render the  pulpit  to  him.  I  replied  that  "the  trustees,  acting 
under  the  charter  granted  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania, 
had  put  me  into  that  pulpit,  and  I  did  not  intend  to  surrender 
it  to  him  or  any  other  man."  This  was  spoken  in  a  calm,  firm 
tone,  and  was  distinctly  heard  all  over  the  house.  Costen  then 
came  forward  to  the  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  announced  to  the 
assembly  that  all  his  claims  in  the  house,  at  that  hour,  had  been 
rejected  by  the  present  occupant  of  the  pulpit.     He  then  called 


WRIT    OF    EJECTMENT    ISSUED.  213 

upon  all  his  friends  to  repair  to  tlie  old  mecting-liouse,  wliere 
liev.  Homer  J.  Clark  would  preach  to  them.  So  they  all  turned 
for  the  door  and  quietly  withdrew,  and,  as  they  went,  the  choir — 
aye,  and  all  the  remaining  portion  of  the  congregation  with 
them — sung,  in  their  best  style,  the  following  appropriate  hymn, 
by  liev.  C.Vesley: 

"  Prisoners  of  hope,  lift  up  your  heads, 
The  day  of  liberty  draws  near,"  etc. 

The  music  was  fine,  the  hymn  glorious;  and  against  they 
were  done,  I  felt  in  good  order  for  preaching.  My  text  was 
taken  from  James,  chap,  i,  25th  verse:  "  But  whoso  looketh  into 
the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  and  coutinueth  therein,  he  being  not 
a  forgetful  hearer,  but  a  doer  of  the  work,  this  man  shall  be 
blessed  in  his  deed."  That  morning  God  gave  me  help  from 
heaven.  Men  can  feel  better,  who,  with  unflinching  firmness, 
contend  for  their  undoubted  rights,  than  others  can  who  obsti- 
nately refuse  to  yield  the  claims  of  justice  to  their  neighbors. 
It  is  not  pleasant  to  have  such  contests;  but  who  ever  got  their 
rights  out  of  the  hands  of  clerical  power  without  a  struggle  ? 

Not  long  after  this,  a  writ  of  ejectment  was  brought  against 
the  trustees,  myself,  and  Sexton  White.  While  the  property 
question  was  in  the  hands  of  the  law,  the  parties  had  compar- 
ative rest;  and  each  party,  1  think,  strove  in  real  earnest  to  do 
religious  good  in  the  Pittsburgh  community.  In  September, 
1831,  according  to  the  judicial  report  in  the  case,  the  trial  came 
on.  Judge  Rogers  recommended  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the 
matter  between  the  parties,  and  our  lawyers,  Forward  and  Fet- 
terman,  said  that  was  all  we  wanted,  and  had  made  many  efforts 
to  get  the  matter  settled  in  that  way.  The  case  was  then  laid 
over  for  nine  days,  to  take  its  regular  turn,  and  to  give  the 
parties  time  for  an  amicable  accommodation.  But  no  adjust- 
ment with  the  other  party  could  be  had ;  so  the  trial  came  on. 
Three  days  were, spent  in  taking  the  testimony.  The  point  our 
old-side  friends  aimed  to  prove,  and  on  which  they  seemed  en- 
tirely to  rely,  was,  that  the  reformers  had  formed  themselves  into 
a  separate  body.     This   was   conceded   by  our  people,  in  the 


214  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

promptest  manner  possible.  If  it  could  be  proved  tliat  we  were 
seceders  from  tbe  old  body,  they  supposed  it  would  follow,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  that  we  had  no  right  to  any  portion  of  the 
property.  But  .the  reformers  maintained  that  money  had  given 
them  a  right,  and  that  the  deed  by  which  the  property  was 
held  was  utterly  worthless.  However,  a  verdict  pro  forma,  at 
the  instance  of  Mr.  Forward,  and  by  the  instruction  of  the 
Judge,  was  rendered  by  the  jury  (without  leaving  the  box,  or 
a  moment's  consultation,)  for  the  plaintiffs.  This  was  done  iu 
view  of  carrying  up  the  case,  without  any  argument  in  the  court 
below,  to  be  argued  as  an  appealed  case  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  All  parties  desired  the 
highest  legal  authority  in  the  State  to  decide  the  matter  at  issue 
between  the  litigants.  When  the  aforesaid  verdict  was  rendered 
for  the  plaintiffs,  it  caused  great  joy  in  the  tents  of  Episcopal 
Methodism;  but  the  reformers,  the  appellants,  held  their  peace 
and  felt  no  fears,  being  confident  of  final  success. 

At  the  October  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  for  1832,  before  Chief-Justice  Gibson  and  Jus- 
tices Rogers,  Huston,  and  Ross,  this  appealed  case  was  argued 
by  Forward  and  Fetterman  for  the  appellants,  and  by  Wilkins 
for  the  otlior  party.  These  gentlemen  were  all  very  able  law- 
yers, and  put  forth  all  their  strength  on  that  occasion.  The 
"Deed  of  Settlement"  was  found  wanting;  the  reformers  car- 
ried their  cause  most  triumphantly.  Church  property  is  always 
local  in  its  origin,  and  for  a  local  people  in  some  designated 
place,  among  Episcopal  Methodists;  yet,  when  it  comes  to  be 
deeded,  according  to  their  form  of  deed,  it  becomes  a  general 
property  for  the  use  of  all  the  Methodists,  in  all  the  states,  and 
in  all  the  Conferences.  It  is  placed- under  the  legislative  con- 
trol of  the  General  Conference  of  ministers  living  in  all  the 
states  of  the  Union.  It  is  placed  under  the  appointing  control 
of  the  Bishops,  who  may  not  live*  in  the  state  in  which  it  is 
Bituatod.  So  many  general  ideas  and  so  much  foreign  control 
as  were  found  in  that  Deed  of  Settlement  would  not  allow  it  to 
pass ;  it  was  condemned  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state. 
There  were  other  principles  contained  in  the  deed,  involved  in 


DECISION   OF    SUPREME    COURT    OF   PENNSYLVANIA.      215 

tliis  controversy  and  disastrous  to  tlie  plaiutiifs,  wliicli  I  liave 
not  mentioned. 

When  the  suit  in  court  terminated  in  our  favor,  we  told  our 
old- side  frieuds  that  we  had  never  claimed  more  than  half  of 
that  property;  that  if  they  would  get  up  a  committee  of  three, 
we  would  appoint  a  committee  of  the  same  number,  then  let  the 
six  meet  and  divide  the  property.  This  was  done,  and  the  par- 
ties were  satisfied.  Nothing  but  a  little  ill-blood — of  which  the 
old-side  always  charged  us  with  having  too  much,  and  of  which 
we  always  knew  they  had  a  little  more  than  enough — hindered 
this  kind  of  equitable  settlement  at  the  beginning.  The  re- 
formers had  often  aimed  to  get  such  a  settlement,  and  only  got 
it  now  because  all  other  hope  had  been  cut  off  from  our  oppo- 
nents, by  the  highest  legal  authority  in  the  state.  That  "Deed 
of  Settlement,"  got  up  by  the  itinerant  clergy,  had  been  a 
mighty  engine  of  power  in  their  hands — a  tremendous  hoop, 
binding  the  whole  connection  together,  under  their  authority. 
By  controlling  the  property,  they  controlled  the  people  them- 
selves ;  as,  in  most  instances,  power  over  a  man's  substance 
amounts  to  a  power  over  his  will.  To  break  down  this  "Deed 
of  Settlement,"  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania,  did,  indeed,  give  great  joy  to  the  reformers, 
not  only  in  Pittsburgh,  but  in  all  the  land.  And  we  rejoiced 
as  much  in  giving  the  other  party  their  full  share  of  the  prop- 
erty, as  we  did  in  the  legal  victory  we  gained  over  them. 

From  the  first  Sabbath  in  June,  1829,  until  the  autumn  of 
1830,  I  had  no  itinerant  help  in  Pittsburgh.  Eev.  A.  Shinn 
was  in  Cincinnati,  Rev.  C.  Springer  in  the  vicinity  of  Zanes- 
ville.  Rev.  W.  B.  Evans  in  the  region  of  Harrisville,  and  Rev. 
Josiah  Foster  on  the  Ohio.  Circuit.  None  of  these  brethren 
could  render  me  any  assistance  in  Pittsburgh.  Having  stood 
connected  so  long  with  such  a  large  body  of  ministers,  and  now 
to  find  myself  pretty  much  alone,  in  the  origin  of  our  cause, 
was  rather  oppressive  to  my  feelings.  Often  did  a  sense  of  lone- 
liness come  over  my  heart,  with  a  most  crushing  weight;  often 
did  I  seek  society  and  friendship  with  those  itinerant  reformers 
whom  I  had  left  behind  me  in  the  old  Church ;  but  only  a  few 


216  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

of  tliem  dared  to  look  my  way,  and  to  preach  for  me  was  out 
of  the  question  for  them  all.  In  Pittsburgh  I  had  some  local 
preachers  who  rendered  me  occasional  assistance  in  the  pulpit : 
Charles  Avery,  James  Munden,  W.  Schdly,  and  James  Small- 
man.  Avery  was  always  ready,  and  did  good  service  whenever 
called  on ;  the  others,  though  good  men  and  true,  did  not  often 
preach.  But  I  had  a  noble  body  of  official  members  to  help 
me,  and  nearly  all  the  members  were  active  and  efficient  in  re- 
vivals. I  generally  preached  three  times  every  Sabbath — twice 
in  the  Smithfield  house,  and  at  night  in  Alleghany,  Birming- 
ham, or  Pipetown — -constantly  meeting  a  class  in  my  house  after 
morning  service.  My  pastoral  labors  were  very  great ;  made  so 
by  the  peculiarities  of  the  circumstances  in  which  the  people 
of  my  charge  were  placed.  It  was  supposed  by  our  old-side 
friends  that  the  female  portion  of  the  reformers  did  not  fully 
understand  the  questions  at  issue  between  the  parties,  and  that, 
if  they  did,  they  might  be  induced  to  return  to  the  old  Church ; 
that,  by  getting  back  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  reformers, 
they  might,  ultimately,  through  female  influence,  reach  the  men, 
and  bring  them  back.  This  was  a  crafty  piece  of  policy:  it  was 
once  tried  upon  the  father  of  the  human  race,  by  a  very  crafty 
agent,  and  did  succeed,  and  it  might  succeed  again — who  could 
tell?  At  any  rate,  nothing  would  be  lost  by  a  trial,  and  much 
might  be  gained.  So  it  came  t(5  pass  in  those  days  that  an  effort 
was  made  by  the  old-side  class-leaders,  and  their  more  promi- 
nent female  members,  to  enlighten  the  sisterhood  of  the  re- 
formers on  the  subject  of  Church  government.  No  doubt  this 
effort  received  its  direction  from  head-quarters.  It  was  a  long- 
continued  effort,  and  those  who  made  it  may  have  been  sincere. 
They  may  have  thought,  amid  the  excitement  of  the  times — • 
being  deceived  in  this  matter — that  clerical  bondage  was  jjrefer- 
able  to  ecclesiastical  liberty ;  but,  as  a  general  thing,  they  failed 
of  their  object:  our  ladies,  as  well  as  their  fathers,  husbands, 
and  brothers,  had  weighed  the  matter  well,  had  counted  the 
cost,  had  taken  their  position  among  the  reformers  from  prin- 
ciple, and  it  was  not  easy  to  move  them  from  the  ground  they 
occupied. 


KEFORMERS'    FIRST'  CONFERENCE    IN    CINCINNATI.        217 

Wherever  these  visitors  went  among  our  people,  there  I  went. 
All  their  arguments  against  Christian  freedom  I  strove  to  an- 
swer. Some  of  those  arguments  were  very  silly,  if  not  wicked. 
To  ascribe  the  great^good  done  by  Methodism  to  the  structure 
of  their  Church  government,  instead  of  attributing  it  to  the 
power  of  the  Gospel,  did  seem  to  me  to  be  a  perversion  of  the 
truth.  And  to  propagate  the  doctrine  that  a  lay  delegation 
and  an  itinerant  ministry  could  not  live  and  prosper  together, 
was  equal  to  telling  me  that  an  itinerant  ministry  was  destruct- 
ive of  human  freedoiji,  and  should,  for  that  reason,  be  imme- 
diately abolished.  I  did  not  send  agents,  but  went  myself,  into 
all  places  where  the  old-side  visitors  went  among  our  people, 
and,  generally  speaking,  .1  found  them  firm  in  "the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  in  the  doctrines  of  mutual  rights 
and  Christian  freedom.  It  was  the  fixed  determination  of  my 
heart  not  to  be  outdone  by  the  other  side  in  pastoral  visita- 
tions, and  to  lose  none  of  my  members  by  a  neglect  of  duty, 
if  I  could  help  it.  This  state  of  things  added  greatly  to  the 
ordinary  labors  of  a  pastor,  and  made  my  whole  time  in  Pitts- 
burgh a  season  of  uncommon  toil.  But  God  gave  me  success; 
my  people  stood  firm,  and  I  enjoyed  unspeakable  happiness 
among  them. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1829,  the  reformers  held  their  first 
Ohio  Conference,  in  the  city  oft  Cincinnati.  It  was  held  under, 
the  Conventional  Articles.  The  greater  part  of  the  ministers 
in  attendance  had  been  local  preachers  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  most  of  them  had  been  very  roughly  handled 
for  their  reform  principles  and  actions  in  the  old  Church.  They 
all  came  to  Conference  balanced  by  lay  delegates,  duly  elected 
by  the  people.  This  was  the  first  Conference  I  had  ever  seen, 
in  all  my  life,  where  the  ministers  and  members  acted  ofiicially 
together,  and  the  action  was  as  harmonious  as  could  have  been 
expected  from  beginners.  The  Conference  made  a  very  fine  im- 
pression upon  the  community.  Some  few  of  the  preachers  were 
appointed  to  circuits  and  stations  then  in  existence ;  others  were 
appointed  to  certain  localities  to  make  circuits,  and  we  had  no 
missionary  funds  to  sustain  them.  This  state  of  things  looked 
14 


218  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

gloomy — it  seemed  to  require  the  faith  of  Abraham ;  but  the 
brethren  took  Grod  and  their  country  for  support,  and  went 
forth  to  their  work  in  very  fine  spirits,  and  many  of  them  had 
glorious  success.  In  those  days  the  cross  i?f  Christ  and  mutual 
rights  went  together,  and  they  ought  to  be  together  still.  I 
was  appointed  to  Pittsburgh,  without  any  assistant.  This  I  re- 
gretted, as  in  that  region  there  was  an  ample  opening  for  more 
laborers — a  large  field,  more  ground  than  I  could  cultivate. 

In  the  winter  of  1829-30,  at  the  call  of  the  friends  of  reform 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Monongahela  District,  I  went  with 
Rev.  C.  Springer  into  that  region,  to  organize  societies  under 
the  Conventional  Articles.  The  seed  had  been  sown  while  I 
Berved  that  people  as  Presiding  Elder,  and  we  found  them  ready 
for  action — ripe  unto  the  harvest.  A  goodly  number  of  socie- 
ties were  formed,  and  immediately  on  my  return  to  Pittsburgh, 
William  H.  Marshall,  an  interesting,  pious,  and  talented  young 
brother,  was  sent  to  Springer's  assistance,  and  the  cause,  under 
their  judicious  and  efficient  labors,  greatly  prospered.  In  the 
month  of  July  following,  at  the  call  of  the  brethren  in  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio,  I  organized  in  that  place  a  valuable  society  of 
thirty-eight  members.  These  brethren  had  been  reformers  from 
the  beginning  of  the  controversy,  and  were  prominent  members 
of  the  Church.  They  had  done  the  main  part  in  erecting  a 
very  fine  house  of  worship,  and  had  sufi"ered  much  from  the 
party  in  power  for  their  principles ;  but,  for  peace'  sake,  they 
quietly  relinquished  their  just  claim  to  a  share  in  the  Church 
property,  and  took  their  stand  among  the  reformers.  The  next 
time  I  visited  them,  W.  Fitch,  their  leader,  went  on  Sunday 
morning  to  a  neighboring  village,  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the 
trustees  for  me  to  preach  in  the  Methodist  Church  the  follow- 
ing Wednesday,  at  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.  He  found  them  all 
in  class-meeting.  When  it  was  over,  he  asked  the  trustees  for 
the  use  of  the  house,  at  the  time  above  named,  for  me  to  preach 
in.     With  one  consent  they  all  agreed  that  the  house  should  be 

at  my  service  at  the  time  specified.     Up  rose  brother  M , 

who  had  got  a  hint  of  Fitch's  intention,  and  had  ridden  fifteen 
miles  that  morning,  to  try,  if  possible,  to  prevent  the  grant  of 


AMUSING    OBJECTION    TO    MORAL    CHARACTER.  219 

the  house,  and  said  "he  hoped  they  would  reconsider  the  mat- 
ter and  not  let  me  into  the  house,  for  I  had  left  their  Church." 
The  trustees  answered,  that,  "if  I  had  left  their  Church,  I  had 
not  forsaken  the  Lord,  and  they  would  like  once  more  to  hear 

me  preach."     M then  expressed  great  sorrow,  and  said  "if 

they  did  let  me  into  that  house,  he  knew  it  would  be  a  great 
grief  to  the  hearts  of  the  preachers  of  the  circuit."  The  trust- 
ees replied  that  "my  preaching  there  would  not  pollute  the 
house ;  that  they  expected  to  hear  from  me  nothing  contrary  to 
sound  doctrine,  and  that  they  all  wanted  me  to  preach   at  the 

appointed  time."     "Well,  but,"  said  M ,  "Mr.  Brown  don't 

sustain  a  good  moral  character."     Then  my  friend  Fitch  said, 

"If  brother  M can  prove  any  thing  against  Mr.  Brown's 

moral  character,  I  will  withdraw  my  request  for  the  use  of  the 

house."      "Yes,"   said   the    trustees,    "if   brother   M can 

pro.ve  any  thing  against  Mr.  Brown's  moral  character,  we  will 
close  the  doors  against  him."  All  parties  then  united  in  de- 
manding of  brother  M proof  of  something  against  my  moral 

character.      "Well,"   said  brother  M ,  "I   suppose  I  must 

now  state  the  facts:  Mr.  Brown,  while  on  New  Lisbon  Circuit, 
did  say,  in  my  hearing,  that  the  Methodist  Episticle  Church  had 
a  horistocral  government."     There  followed   no  little  laughter 

at  brother  M 's  expense.      "  But,"   said   the    trustees,  "  is 

that   all?"      "Yes,"    answered   brother    M ;    "is    not   that 

enough?"  "Well,  if  that  is  all,"  said  the  trustees,  "Mr. 
Brown  can  have  the  house."  So,  at  the  appointed  time,  I  did 
preach  in  that  house  to  a  crowded  congregation,  at  the  close 
of  which  meeting  Fitch  and  the  trustees  related  to  me  the 
foregoing  amusing  interview  between  the  parties  in  the  class- 
room.    How  matters  change!     This  brother  M ,  by  Church 

authority,  was  made  to  feel  ;  feeling  set  him  to  thinking  and 
reading ;  thinking  and  reading  led  to  a  change  of  Church  rela- 
tions.    A  few  years  after  his  unsuccessful  effort  to  exclude  me 

from  that  village  meeting-house,  I  found  brother  M and 

his  family,  with  a  tent,  at  a  camp-meeting  near  Bucyrus,  a  very 
zealous  member  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church ;   at  which 


220  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

time  lie  confessed  tlie  ignorance  and  bigotry  by  wbicli  he  had 
been  influenced  in  the  case  above  related. 

In  this  early  period  of  the  reform  movement,  I  had  many 
pressing  calls,  from  various  parts  of  the  country  contiguous  to 
Pittsburgh,  to  visit  the  brethren,  in  view  of  organizing  Churches. 
A  Church  was  organized  in  Steubenville,  and  another  in  Wash- 
ington, about  that  time.  Shortly  after  this,  the  brethren  in 
Beaver  and  Wellsville  took  their  position  in  the  reform  ranks. 
Connellsville  Church  came  into  being  at  a  little  later  date.  How 
to  supply  the  Churches  with  preachers  was  a  matter  of  great 
concern  to  me.  Either  a  dread  of  persecution,  a  fear  that  they 
would  not  be  supported,  or  something  else,  prevented  the  itin- 
erant preachers  of  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  known  as 
re6:)rmers,  from  identifying  themselves  with  our  work.  If  Bas- 
eom  and  Waterman,  and  several  others,  who  had  been  promi- 
nent as  reformers,  had  been  faithful  to  their  avowed  principles, 
and  had  rendered  us  help  in  the  new  organization,  the  impres- 
sion on  the  community  would  have  been  greater,  and,  in  my 
estimation  at  least,  their  standing  would  have  been  higher. 
When  men,  from  any  cause,  abandon  their  avowed  principles,  in 
favor  of  which,  for  years,  they  have  written,  and  preached,  and 
prayed,  and  throw  all  their  influence  against  those  principles, 
and  against  those  who  risk  their  all  to  sustain  them,  mankind 
will  please  to  pardon  me  if  I  can  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to 
make  psalms,  or  hymns,  or  spiritual  songs,  in  honor  of  their 
backslidings,  or  take  upon  myself  to  sing  their  praises. 

In  October,  1830,  the  Ohio  Conference  held  its  second  session, 
in  Cincinnati.  It  was  a  good  Conference.  God  had  greatly 
opened  our  way,  and  the  young  Church  had  been  favored,  in 
the  midst  of  all  sorts  of  trials,  with  a  thrifty  growth  through- 
out the  West.  I  was  reappointed  to  Pittsburgh,  with  Rev.  Z. 
Ragan  for  my  assistant.  In  a  short  time  his  brother.  Rev.  Joab 
W.  Ragan,  of  the  Ohio  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  came  to  pay  him  a  visit.  He  ultimately  identified 
himself  with  our  young  Church.  So,  the  two  brothers,  both  of 
whom  were  vigorous  and  intelligent  but  persecuted  young  men, 


PROSPERITY   OF   THE   CHURCH   IN   PITTSBURGH.         221 

of  much  promise,  became  my  fellow-laborers  in  Pittsburgh  and 
vicinity.  They  were  both  companionable,  social-hearted  breth- 
ren, and  were  capital  preachers.  With  their  help,  the  work 
was  considerably  extended  that  year.  Meanwhile,  other  minis- 
terial brethren  came  to  us,  some  of  whom  had  been  local 
preachers  in  the  old  Church,  and  others  grew  up  from  our  own 
ranks.  So  great  was  the  necessity  for  laborers  in  the  opening 
vineyard,  and  so  imperfect  was  our  knowledge  of  the  workmen 
whom  we  felt  obliged  to  employ  to  meet  the  pressing  wants  of 
our  people,  that  we  often  found,  to  our  sorrow,  we  had  men  in 
the  itinerancy  who  ought  never  to  have  been  among  us.  They 
did  more  harm  than  good,  and  soon  passed  away  from  us  to 
hunt  a  morsel  of  bread  in  some  other  denomination.  Our  best 
laborers  have  generally  been  of  home  growth  ;  but  we  had  to 
use  such  as  we  could  get,  until  better  could  be  obtained  from 
ourselves.  The  sons  of  the  Church  are  the  men  for  the  work. 
From  June,  1829,  until  October,  1831,  the  Church  of  which 
I  had  charge  in  Pittsburgh  was  in  a  prosperous  condition. 
No  opposition  of  any  description  with  which  we  met,  proved 
sufficient  to  arrest  the  regular  progress  of  the  work  of  the  Lord. 
Two  camp-meetings  held  by  the  reformers — one  in  the  summer 
of  1830,  the  other  in  1831 — were  a  great  blessing  to  our  peo- 
ple, and  added  considerably  to  our  numerical  strength.  As  the 
old-side  brethren  occupied  the  Smithfield  house  every  Sunday 
night,  we  were  much  at  a  loss  for  a  place  in  which  to  hold 
service  on  Sabbath  evenings.  Sometimes  we  went  to  the  court- 
house, at  other  times  to  a  German  church  near  at  hand;  but, 
finally,  it  was  agreed  that  the  state  of  the  work  could  be  best 
promoted  by  a  prayer-meeting  at  my  house,  which  was  large, 
and  near  the  church  on  Smithfield  Street.  The  folding-doors 
of  the  rooms  on  the  first  floor  were  thrown  open  to  accommo- 
date the  worshipers ;  but  that  was  not  enough  for  the  people 
who  came :  the  large  room,  eighteen  feet  by  twenty-four,  in  the 
third  story,  was  occupied  at  the  same  time  with  the  rooms 
below;  then  the  large  hall,  then  the  stairway,  from  the  meeting 
below  to  the  meeting  above — all  were  crowded;  and  often,  on 
pleasant  evenings,  nearly  as  many  people  would  be  left  out  in 


222  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

the  street,  in  front  of  the  door,  as  could  get  into  the  house. 
The  laborers  were  then  divided ;  part  remained  below,  and  part 
went  to  the  third  story.  It  was  a  glorious  revival  time.  Many 
sons  and  daughters  were  born  to  glory  there,  and  the  Church 
was  greatly  built  up.  Perhaps  we  lost  nothing  by  not  occupy- 
ing the  new  meeting-house  on  Sunday  evenings.  Preaching 
twice  every  Sabbath-day,  and  these  glorious  prayer-meetings 
every  Sabbath-night,  brought  the  Church  along  in  a  growing, 
prosperous  condition  during  about  the  last  half  of  my  term  of 
service  in  Pittsburgh.  To  the  original  stock  of  reformers,  who 
entered  into  the  organization  June  24,  1829,  were  added,  ac- 
cording to  my  record,  two  hundred  and  ninety-one  members. 
These  were  seals  to  my  ministry,  given  me  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
in  very  troublous  times. 

In  my  house,  every  Sunday,  there  were  two  class-meetings, 
and  the  above-named  prayer-meetings  at  night.  On  Monday 
night,  the  leadei's'  meeting  was  there ;  on  Tuesday,  my  own 
class  met  there ;  on  Thursday  night,  the  choir  met  there ;  on 
Friday,  brother  Avery's  class  met  there ;  and  on  Saturday 
night,  the  Young  Men's  Association  for  mutual  improvement 
was  there — making  eight  in  all,  every  week.  Several  of  these 
meetings  were  held  in  the  third  story.  It  may  well  be  sup- 
posed that  so  many  meetings  gave  a  great  deal  of  labor  and 
trouble  to  the  female  portion  of  my  family ;  but  Mrs.  Brown 
and  her  sister.  Miss  Jackson,  were  one  in  spirit  with  me,  and 
we  all  went  for  the  cause,  cost  what  it  might.  He  who  prefers 
his  ease  to  success  in  a  righteous  undertaking,  will  never  ac- 
complish much  for  the  Church  or  the  State. 

It  ought  to  be  mentioned  in  this  little  sketch,  that,  in  No- 
vember, 1830,  Rev.  C.  Avery  and  I  attended  the  convention  in 
Baltimore,  as  delegates  from  Pittsburgh,  to  aid  in  the  formation 
of  the  Constitution  and  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church.  That  was  a  grave  assembly — a  venerable  body.  There 
were  many  gray  heads  in  that  convention — men  of  reliable  char- 
acter, talents,  experience,  and  wisdom;  and  in  the  work  which 
they  accomplished,  a  monument  was  erected  to  their  memory, 
which  will  stand  as  long  as  ecclesiastical  liberty  has  a  name  and 


CONVENTION   IN   BALTIMORE.  223 

a  place  in  the  world.  But,  after  all — to  mark  the  imperfection 
of  human  wisdom — a  great  wrong  was  done  to  the  colored  race. 
On  the  tears  of  the  Baltimoreans — whose  local  preachers  had 
lost  their  standing  by  the  votes  of  colored  men — came  floating 
into  the  Constitution  the  word  "white."  "White"  will  do  well 
enough  in  the  right  place;  but  just  there  it  never  did  any  thing 
but  mischief,  as  it  cut  off  all  the  colored  people  from  voting 
power  in  our  community.  Nor  could  we  gain  Southern  co- 
operation in  conventional  action,  until  their  slaveholding  laws 
were  as  strongly  guarded  by  our  Church  constitution  against 
the  action  of  all  our  ecclesiastical  bodies  as  the  "  morality  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures."  It  may  be  admitted,  too,  that  the  con- 
stitvitional  rule  adopted  by  the  convention,  regulating  the  sta- 
tioning authority  of  the  Annual  Conferences,  was  entirely  too 
stringent  for  the  well-being  and  diversified  wants  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church.  The  constitution,  as  it  now  stands 
amended  by  the  convention  of  18G2,  is  entirely  free  from  the 
foregoing  ill -working  and  embarrassing  features,  and,  it  is  be- 
lieved, will  be  found  acceptable  to  the  Churches  in  the  free 
states,  and  all  other  places  where  Christian  liberty  has  found  a 
home.  As  to  the  parties  in  controversy  in  Pittsburgh,  I  did 
believe  that  the  great  body  of  the  members  in  the  old  estab- 
lishment were  religiously  in  earnest  to  save  their  own  souls  and 
the  souls  of  others ;  and  that  they  really  thought  they  did  God 
service  in  yielding  "passive  obedience  and  non-resistance"  to 
the  will  of  the  itinerant  clergy,  and  in  holding  on  to  all  the 
Church  property.  Their  ministers,  too.  Rev.  Z.  Costen  and 
Rev.  H.  J.  Clark,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Lambdin,  I  believed  to 
be  faithful  Christian  laborers,  who  did  all  they  could  for  their 
cause.  Not  having  studied  the  question  of  lay  delegation,  and 
having  been  taught,  by  the  General  Conference  of  1828,  that 
the  itinerant  ministry  held  all  ecclesiastical  power  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  by  divine  right,  I  could  not  blame  them 
for  their  opposition  to  me  and  to  the  cause  I  advocated,  as,  in  a 
ju(|gment  of  charity,  I  supposed  they  knew  no  better.  Invin- 
cible prejudice,  in  those  days,  hindered  thousands  from  seeking 
information  •  indeed,  it  was  deemed,  in  high  places,  an  expella- 


224  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

ble  offense  to  read  the  Mutual  Rights  or  to  belong  to  a  Union 
Society. 

When  Costen  and  Clark  had  closed  their  term  of  service  in 
Pittsburgh,  Rev.  R.  Hopkins  came  on.  He  was  an  old  fellow- 
laborer  of  good  standing,  yet  he  cited  to  trial  and  expelled  a 
considerable  number  of  our  male  members.  This  was  done 
more  than  one  year  after  we  had  become  a  separate  religious 
pommunity !  What  did  Hopkins  mean  by  this  transaction? 
Did  he  intend  to  vex  and  worry  the  reformers?  Perhaps  not. 
May  be  he  thought  that  to  expel  the  brethren  would  operate 
against  their  claim  to  any  portion  of  the  Church  property.  If 
this  was  his  design,  the  expulsions  amounted  to  nothing ;  he 
failed  in  his  purpose.  The  reformers  held  fast  their  claim  to  a 
due  share  of  the  Church  property  under  the  charter,  and  sus- 
tained their  cause  in  the  Suj)reme  Court  of  the  state  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

As  to  the  reformers,  they  were  a  pious  body  of  Christians, 
full  of  zeal  for  the  cause  of  Christ  and  ecclesiastical  liberty, 
well  informed  on  the  subject  of  Church  government,  and,  in 
their  judgment,  the  Church  had  as  much  right  to  a  free  repre- 
sentative p;6vernment  as  the  State.  In  them  dwelt  the  revival 
spirit  all  the  time.  Never  did  I  know  a  people  more  punctual 
in  attending  all  the  means  of  grace.  I  wish  from  my  heart 
that  the  children  were,  in  all  respects,  equal  to  their  fathers. 
A  more  devoted  Christian  community  I  never  labored  among 
in  all  my  life.  These  pious  persons  did  not  deem  it  necessary 
to  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  that  they  should  live  under  a 
Church  government  where  the  voice  of  a  layman  could  never 
be  heard;  or  that  they  should  surrender  rights  which  their 
money  had  given  them  in  the  Church  property,  and  quietly 
walk  away  with  empty  pockets ;  so  they  determined  to  try,  in 
the  highest  court  of  the  state,  the  validity  of  the  "  Deed  of 
Settlement,"  which  they  regarded  as  a  great  hoop  to  hold  the 
membership  together,  under  the  rule  of  the  itinerant  clergy. 
To  break  this  "deed"  would,  in  their  opinion,  lower  the  arbi- 
trary tone  of  Episcopal  Methodism,  and  open  the  way  of  tliou- 


CONTEMPTUOUS    TREATMENT   FROM    OLD    FRIENDS.       225 

sands  to  Cliristian  freedom ;  and  in  this  thing  they  were  not 
mistaken. 

When  I  went  to  Pittsburgh  to  preach  for  the  reformers,  it 
was  my  determination  to  meet  all  my  friends  who  yet  remained 
in  the  old  Church  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  kindness  and  lib- 
erality. Thomas  Cooper,  who  had  once  presided  at  a  meeting 
of  reformers  in  Pittsburgh,  but  now  had  taken  rank  on  the  old 
side,  was  a  highly  valued  friend.  His  house  had  long  been  my 
home,  when  in  that  city.  He  was  from  England,  and  possessed 
the  usual  characteristics  of  his  countrymen ;  but  grace  had,  in 
my  opinion,  done  much  for  him,  and  he  stood  very  high  in  the 
Church.  I  had  been  informed  that  brother  Cooper  did  not 
think  any  the  better  of  me  for  joining  the  reformers,  and  that 
I  had  nothing  to  hope  from  his  friendship  in  future.  I  could 
hardly  believe  this,  yet  I  did  not  know  how  far  sectarian  ran- 
cor might  have  the  control  of  him,  as  he  was  brother-in-law  to 
Mr.  Lambdin,  the  preacher  in  charge,  whose  Jesuitical  double- 
dealing  with  the  reformers  had  driven  them  into  a  separate 
organization.  One  day  I  met  brother  Cooper  on  Wood  Street, 
and,  turning  his  back,  he-  went  by  me  edgeways,  refusing  to 
speak  or  give  me  his  hand..  "Once,"  said  I  to  myself.  In  a 
short  time,  in  the  same  part  of  the  city,  a  crowd  of  people 
were  about  to  throw  us  together,  but  he  leaped  over  the  curb- 
stone to  avoid  me.  "  Twice,"  said  I.  Not  long  after  this,  as 
I  went  up  Wood  Street,  and  he  came  down  Fourth,  we  met  on 
the  corner.  When  his  eye  glanced  upon  me,  he  went  like  a 
dart  across  the  street,  without  the  slightest  friendly  recogni- 
tion. "  Three  times,"  said  I.  ''  When  I  have  given  an  old  friend 
three  opportunities  for  Christian  or  even  civil  greetings,  and 
he  has  treated  me  with  rude  contempt  every  time,  then  I  shall 
take  no  further  notice  of  him  until  he  returns  to  his  senses; 
yet  I  can  not  afford  to  cherish  wrath  or  harbor  ill-will  against 
any  man,  especially  an  old  friend." 

The  old-side  preachers  boarded  with  brother  Cooper,  and  the 
two  Ptagans  with  me;  so  brother  C.  and  myself  often  met  in 
market  to  purchase  the  necessary  supplies  for  our  respective 


226  KECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

tables.  I  determined  that  my  preachers  should  live  on  as  good 
things  as  his.  When  he  bought  butter  from  a  country-woman, 
I  would  go  and  stand  by  his  side,  talk  to  the  woman,  and  buy 
butter  out  of  the  same  basket,  without  offering  to  speak  to  him. 
When  he  went  to  another  place  to  buy  eggs,  I  would  be  at  his 
elbow,  buying  eggs  out  of  the  same  basket,  talking  to  the 
woman,  but  saying  nothing  to  him.  When  he  went  to  the 
butcher's  stall  to  buy  meat,  I  would  immediately  be  at  his 
side,  to  take  the  next  cut,  talking  to  the  butcher  as  pleasantly 
as  I  could,  but  uttering  no  word  to  Cooper.  This  course  I 
continued  for  several  months,  until  brother  C.  was,  I  suppose, 
of  the  opinion  that  I  meant  to  tease  him  into  some  kind  of  an 
utterance.  Often  he  would  give  me  a  quizzical  look,  as  if  about 
to  speak  or  laugh,  I  could  hardly  tell  which.  But  it  was  my 
determination  that  he,  having  treated  me  with  contempt  three 
times,  as  before  stated,  should  now  be  the  first  to  speak.  One 
day,  on  entering  Hazleton's  store,  there  sat  brother  Cooper,  far 
back  by  the  stove.  As  soon  as  he  saw  me  he  left  his  seat,  came 
right  forward,  held  out  his  hand,  which  I  took  with  much  cor- 
diality, and  the  kindness  of  his  greeting  was  equal  to  that  of 
former  years.  We  then  had  much  pleasant  conversation,  and 
our  former  friendship  was  renewed.  Several  other  old  friends 
in  Pittsburgh,  who,  like  Cooper,  had  treated  me  contemptu- 
ously for  my  reform  principles  and  actions,  and  against  whom 
I  had  put  my  three-times  rule  in  force,  ultimately  broke  silence, 
when  they  found  that  their  frowns  were  of  no  avail,  and  we  re- 
newed our  former  friend.ship.  The  fact  is,  in  those  days  I  had 
a  little  too  much  spirit  to  admit  of  my  crawling  in  the  dust  to 
gain  the  friendship  of  any  man  who  ignored  the  ecclesiastical 
liberties  of  a  Christian  people. 

To  show  still  further  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  how  good 
men,  through  party  zeal,  can  be  influenced  by  sectarian  rancor, 
I  will  introduce  another  case.  At  three  different  times,  while 
living  in-  Pittsburgh,  I  visited  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania.  Each 
time  I  made  an  effort  to  speak  to  my  old  friend  Rev.  Thornton 
Fleming;  but  he  treated  my  approaches  with  contempt;  so  I 
brought  my  three-times  rule  to  bear  upon  him.     Near  Zanes- 


CONTEMPTUOUS    TREATMENT    FROM    OLD    FRIENDS.       227 

ville,  as  I  was  going  to  Conference,  in  1831,  Mr.  Avery  and 
T.  Greenough  being  witli  me  in  the  carriage,  we  met  brother 
Fleming  and  lady,  on  the  pike.  He  drew  up  as  if  he  meant  to 
speak,  but  I  drove  on.  Mr.  Avery  asked  me  why  I  did  so. 
''Three  times  in  his  own  town,"  said  I,  "did  brother  Fleming 
contemptuously  refuse  to  speak  to  me,  and  now  he  can't  be  per- 
mitted to  do  it  on  the  pike  in  Ohio.  If  we  ever  speak  again,  the 
approach  must  be  on  his  part,  and  it  must  be  in  his  own  town." 
The  brethren  said  I  was  "plucky,"  but  about  right — there  was 
no  other  way  to  bring  such  men  to  their  senses.  The  next  time 
I  visited  Uniontown,  brother  Fleming  came  to  me  at  my  lodgings, 
and  we  had  a  very  pleasant  interview.  Our  Christian  friend- 
ship was  renewed,  and  I  trust  it  will  be  eternal  in  the  heavens. 


228  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Church  Failures  in  Wheeling— Mt  First  Tear 'in  the  Presidency— Re-elected 
President- The  Reform  Methodists— Discussion  on  Church  Government— A  Foa- 
qetful  Preacher— Lectures  on  Church  Government— Elected  President  thb 
Third  Time— First  General  Conference— Presidential  Tour  through  the  West. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1831,  the  Ohio  Conference  was 
held  in  Zanesville,  and  I  was  elected  President.  This  was,  in 
my  judgment,  a  hard  appointment,  as  all  the  territory  west  of 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  was  then  included  in  the  bounds  of 
one  Conference,  and  if  I  met  the  requirements  of  the  law  and 
the  expectations  of  the  people,  I  would  have  to  be  much  from 
homo.  We  were  now  operating  under  a  regular  Church  con- 
stitution, which  was  well  received  by  the  people  and  the  public 
generally.  The  reports  from  the  work  were  cheering.  Our 
cause  had  greatly  advanced  during  the  preceding  year.  All 
we  seemed  to  need,  to  insure  success,  by  the  blessing  of  Grod, 
was  the  right  kind  of  men  in  the  ministry.  But,  alas  for  us! 
in  many  instances,  the  men  whom  necessity  compelled  us  to , 
employ  were  not  suited  to  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
Some  lacked  talent;  others,  piety;  others,  prudence;  others,  all 
these  things  together;  and  our  young  Church  suffered  greatly 
in  such  hands. 

On  my  way  to  Conference,  brother  Greenough,  the  delegate, 
and  myself  spent  a  night  in  Wheeling,  at  Teeters's  tavern.  My 
old  friends  in  that  city  wore  not  well  pleased  that  I  did  not 
stop  with  them,  as  formerly.  On  my  return,  I  went  again  to 
the  same  public  house,  not,  as  yet,  knowing  that  it  would  be 
agreeable  to  my  old  friends  to  have  me  stay  with  them,  as  I 
was  now  identified  with  the  reformers.  In  the  morning,  before 
I  started  for  Pittsburgh,  John  List,  Daniel  Zane,  and  Joseph 


MY    FIRST    YEAR   IN   THE    PRESIDENCY.  229 

Woods,  all  prominent  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  called  on  me,  and  i;emonstrated  against  my  stopping  at 
a  public  house  when  I  came  to  Wheeling,  and  expressed  a 
■wish  that  I  should  "always,  when  I  visited  their  city,  take 
lodgings  among  my  old  friends,  as  in  former  years.  I  said  to 
them  that,  having  changed  my  Church  relations,  I  felt  a  diffi- 
dence in  seeking  entertainment  among  the  members  of  the  old 
Church,  lest  the  preachers  should  handle  the  matter  to  my  dis- 
advantage. They  then  claimed  for  themselves,  and  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  members  oi"  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Wheeling,  that  they  were  as  much  in  favor  of  reform  as  I  was, 
and  that  I  need  have  no  hesitancy  about  seeking  quarters 
among  my  former  friends,  whenever  I  visited  Wheeling.  Their 
object  in  calling  upon  me  that  morning  was  then  more  fully 
made  known.  They  wished  me,  at  that  time,  to  leave  an  ap- 
pointment, and  preach  for  them  at  my  earliest  convenience. 
As  Rev.  E.  S.  Woodward  w^s  stationed  among  our  people  in 
Steubenville,  they  wished  me  to  secure  his  assistance,  and  hold 
the  meeting  at  least  one  week,  in  the  Methodist  meeting-house, 
which  they  pledged  themselves  to  obtain  for  that  purpose.  I 
named  the  Sabbath  when  I  would,  if  spared,  be  with  them. 
Then  they  suggested  the  following  plan:  1.  I  was  to  go  by 
Steubenville  and  secure  Woodward's  services,  and  tell  no  man, 
besides  him,  of  the  contemplated  meeting.  2.  Let  Woodward 
come  down  on  the  morning  boat,  on  Wednesday,  and  go,  for 
entertainment,  to  the  house  of  Rev.  A.  Hawkins,  who  would 
give  them  notice  of  his  arrival.  3.  They  would  immediately 
see  the  trustees,  get  the  use  of  the  house,  send  out  the  ap- 
pointment, and  let  the  meeting  be  continued  night  after  night, 
until  I  could  get  there  on  Saturday.  4.  On  Sunday,  have  sa- 
crament and  love-feast,  and  continue  until  Wednesday.  5. 
Nothing  was  to  be  said  by  Woodward  or  myself  about  reform, 
or  an  organization,  as  they  wanted  to  manage  all  that  matter 
themselves,  in  their  own  way,  as  it  was  done  in  Pittsburgh  and 
Steubenville. 

The  foregoing  arrangement  being  made,  I  went  on  to  Steu- 
benville and  saw  Woodward,  who  agreed  to  attend  the  meeting 


230  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

and  help  to  carry  out  the  plan  suggested  by  the  brethren  in 
Wheeling.  Accordingly,  when  the  time  came,  he  went  down 
on  the  morning  boat;  but  he  utterly  ignored  all  the  rest  of  the 
plan.  Instead  of  going  to  the  house  of  brother  Hawkins  for 
entertainment,  he  went  to  the  Virginia  Hotel.  Instead  of  seek- 
ing, through  the  trustees,  to  get  the  Methodist  meeting-house, 
he  got  a  boy  to  ring  the  old  court-house  bell,  and  determined 
to  hold  meeting  in  that  house — a  miserable,  filthy  place,  where 
there  was  but  little  chance  for  a  respectable  congregation. 
About  thirty  persons  assembled,  and  among  them  a  few  mem- 
bers of  the  old  Church,  of  questionable  standing,  and  some 
who  had  been  subjected  to  disciplinary  treatment  for  improper 
conduct.  To  these  people  Woodward  preached  on  Wednesday 
night,  and  had  rather  a  discouraging  time.  What  better  could 
he  expect,  since  he  had  violated  the  plan  and  determined  to 
take  his  own  course?  The  next  night  he  preached  again  in 
the  same  place,  to  about  the  same  congregation.  At  the  close 
of  service  in  that  old  court-house,  he  beat  up  for  volunteers  to 
form  a  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  and  got  seven  or  eight 
names  on  a  piece  of  paper — all  of  inferior  standing  in  the  com- 
munity. So,  on  Friday,  being  convinced  that  he  had  made  a 
failure,  he  published  my  appointment  for  Sunday,  in  that  same 
old  court-house,  and  returned  home,  very  much  mortified  at  his 
defeat. 

On  Friday  evening,  I  reached  Steubenville,  on  my  way  to 
Wheeling,  and,  on  learning  from  AVoodward  what  he  had  done, 
I  felt  disappointed  and  discouraged  by  the  indiscretion  and  bad 
faith  of  the  man.  In  an  injudicious  efi"ort  to  efiect,  in  his  own 
way,  an  organization  before  my  arrival,  and  without  regard  to 
the  wishes  of  the  brethren  who  were  expected  to  go  into  the 
organization,  I  supposed  that  offense  had  been  given,  and  that 
nothing  now  could  be  done.  However,  as  an  appointment  had 
been  published  for  me,  in  the  Wheeling  papers,  I  resolved  to 
go  on,  and,  if  possible,  rally  my  friends.  My  appointment  in 
the  court-house  was  filled  on  Sunday  morning.  None  of  the 
reliable  reformers  were  there ;  all  were  offended,  as  their  plana 
and  wishes  had  been  disregarded.     They  said  if  that  was  the 


CnURCn    FAILURES    IN    WHEELING.  231 

tray  tte  new-side  preachers  treated  the  people,  the  old-side 
preachers  could  do  no  worse,  and  they  would  remain  where 
they  were.  On  Sunday  evening  we  occupied  the  old  Masonic 
Hall.  The  congregation  was  larger,  but  our  offended  brethren 
stood  aloof  from  us.  The  meeting  was  continued  until  Wednes- 
day night,  with  growing  hopes  of  success.  At  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  I  dfenied  that  Woodward  had  effected  any  Church  or- 
ganization in  Wheeling  at  all,  as  the  constitution  had  neither 
been  read  nor  adopted,  nor  had  any  Church  officers  been  elected. 
I  then  promised  them  another  meeting  in  one  month,  at  which 
time,  if  spared,  an  organization  would  be  effected. 

At  the  appointed  time,  I  was  at  my  post  in  Wheeling,  in  that 
Bame  hall.  The  meeting  continued  about  one  week,  in  a  true  re- 
vival style.  During  the  time  we  had  a  sacrament  and  a  love- 
feast.  At  the  close,  an  explanatory  lecture  on  Church  govern- 
ment was  given,  the  constitution  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  was  read,  and  a  regular  Church  organization  was  ef- 
fected. Forty-seven  members  entered  into  that  organization — 
twenty  of  them  were  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
twenty-seven  were  young  converts — the  immediate  fruits  of  that 
meeting.  Thus,  through  the  indiscretion  of  Woodward,  who 
was  a  good  preacher  but  a  bad  manager,  we  lost  the  great  body 
of  the  reformers  in  the  old  Church — perhaps  the  meeting-house, 
too — and  had  to  begin  with  forty-seven  members,  and  worship 
in  the  Masonic  Hall.  I  have  been  utterly  unable  to  account  I 
for  it,  that  some  men  have  sense  enough  to  be  capital  preach-  ! 
ers,  while  entirely  destitute  of  all  the  requisite  qualifications  ) 
for  good  management  in  Church  affairs.  Such  was  the  case 
with  Woodward. 

I  might  as  well,  right  here,  continue  the  history  of  Wheel- 
ing's failures.  In  that  city,  notwithstanding  the  above-men- 
tioned sad  occurrence,  we  had  a  very  pleasant,  growing  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church.  In  the  autumn  of  1832,  I  situated 
my  family  among  that  kind-hearted  people.  It  was  more  in  the 
center  of  my  woi'k,  and  I  did  hope  to  render  them  some  assist- 
ance during  the  year,  when  at  home  with  my  flimily.  On  the 
first  day  of  January,  1833,  at  the  request   of  the   Church,  I 


232  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

went  to  Noali  Zane,  Esq.,  the  wealthy  proprietor  of  a  great 
many  town  lots,  to  secure,  as  a  donation,  a  suitable  piece  of 
ground  upon  which  to  build  a  meeting-house.  I  found  him  in 
a  new  bookstore,  which  was  just  being  opened  out.  He  was 
in  a  very  pleasant,  conversational  mood,  and  taking  me,  by  the 
arm,  around  the  counter,  he  told  me  to  select  a  book,  for  he 
wanted  to  make  me  a  New- Year's  present.  I  selected  a  book; 
he  applauded  my  choice,  and  told  me  to  look  again.  He  kept 
me  looking,  while  he  continued  to  applaud  my  selections,  until 
the  worth  of  the  whole  lot  amounted  to  nearly  one  hundred 
dollars,  for  which  he  then  and  there  gave  the  salesman  a  check 
on  the  bank,  and  told  him,  when  other  books  came  on,  to  let 
me  have  any  thing  I  wanted,  and  charge  it  to  him.  Said  I, 
"  Mr.  Zane,  you  are  very  good,  and  I  am  very  thankful  for  thia 
valuable  New- Year's  gift;  but  this  is  not  the  thing  I  am  after 
this  morning.  I  am  sent  by  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
of  your  city,  to  ask  you  to  do  for  them  as  you  have  done  for 
all  the  other  Churches  in  Wheeling;  i.  e.,  to  give  them  a  lot  on 
which  to  build  a  meeting-house."  "No,  Brown,"  said  he,  "I 
can't  do  that;  my  word  is  out;  I  shall  not  give  any  more  lots 
to  the  Churches.  What  are  Daniel  Zane,  John  List,  and  the 
other  reformers  about — who  some  time  ago  were  all  in  favor  of 
your  cause — that  they  can't  he'lp  you?"  I  had  to  evade  re- 
porting to  him  the  Woodward  bungle,  by  which  we  had  lost  all 
those  men.  After  a  little  reflection,  he  said :  "  I  must  do  some- 
thing for  your  Church.  I  approve  of  your  principles,  and  hope 
you  will  succeed.  Go  back  and  tell  your  people  to  appoint  a 
committee  to  examine  my  lots  and  make  a  selection.  When 
this  is  done,  I  will  go  and  place  a  fair  valuation  on  the  lot; 
then  let  them  get  up  a  subscription  paper  and  bring  it  to  me, 
and  I  will  head  it  with  the  price  of  the  lot."  This  was  gen- 
erous, and  was  like  the  liberality  of  the  man ;  it  placed  us  on 
a  par  with  other  Churches,  and  my  report  of  the  case  was  a 
matter  of  great  joy  to  our  young  Church  in  Wheeling. 

But  delays  in  the  performance  of  immediate  duty  are  always 
dangerous.  When  the  spring  opened,  I  went  forth  to  the 
labors  of  the  Ohio  District,  expecting  to  meet  my  family  in 


DEATH  OF  NOAH  ZANE.  233 

Cincinnati  on  the  first  of  June.  But  I  received  a  letter  from 
Dr.  D.  B.  Dorsey,  of  Wheeling,  containing  the  sad  intelligence 
that  my  mother-iu-law  then  lay  dead  in  my  house  ;  that  my 
wife  and  her  sister,  Miss  Jackson,  were  both  prostrated  by  sick- 
ness; and  on  that  day  twenty-one  deaths  had  occurred  from 
cholera.  So,  leaving  my  horse  in  the  care  of  a  friend,  I  went 
to  the  river,  and  was  immediately  off,  on  the  steamer  Boston, 
for  home.  The  gentlemanly  captain,  to  whom  I  stated  my 
case,  promised  to  put  me  in  Wheeling  with  the  least  possible 
delay.  We  averaged  about  nine  miles  per  hour,  against  a  very 
heavy  river  all  the  way.  When  we  landed,  about  midnight,  at 
the  Wheeling  wharf,  in  a  very  heavy  rain,  Captain  Brickels 
charged  me  nothing  for  the  trip,  and  said,  "  God  bless  you,  my 
friend.  I  hope  you  will  find  your  family  better."  After  thank- 
ing him  for  his  kindness  and  good  wishes,  I  made  my  way  home. 
We  lived  in  Mills's  Bow  of  nine  houses;  oui's  was  next  to  the 
corner.  When  I  knocked  at  my  own  door  I  got  no  answer; 
all  was  silent  and  dark.  I  knocked  again  and  again ;  still  all 
was  silent,  and  I  feared  that  all  were  in  their  graves.  At  last 
Mrs.  Mills,  in  the  corner  house,  raised  an  upper  window,  and 
said,  "Is  that  Mr.  Brown  come  home?"  My  emotion  at  the 
time  was  too  great  for  utterance.  I  could  make  no  reply,  being 
fearful  that  I  should  hear,  in  her  next  words,  that  all  were 
dead.  But  this  kind  lady  immediately  relieved  me — guessing 
who  I  was — by  informing  me  that  my  family  had  been  removed 
to  brother  Woods's,  at  the  other  end  of  the  row,  and  were  recov- 
ering. To  me  this  good  news  brought  great  relief.  It  was 
life  from  the  dead,  to  see  my  family  once  more.  On  the  day 
before  I  reached  home,  Noah  Zane,  who  had  died  of  the  cholera, 
was  buried ;  and,  to  my  great  mortification  and  disappointment, 
our  membership  had  not  secured  the  lot  on  which  to  build  a 
meeting-house.  Was  this  attributable  to  negligence  on  the  part 
of  Bev.  Z.  Bagan,  the  preacher,  or  the  members,  or  both?  At 
any  rate,  our  friends  in  Wheeling  did  not  appear  to  know  the 
day  of  their  visitation.  A  people  in  their  condition  should 
have  jumped  at  such  a  chance,  and,  on  the  terms  suggested  by 
Zane  himself,  secured  that  lot. 
15 


234  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Several  years  after  this,  our  brethren  in  Wheeling  lost  an- 
other opportunity  to  obtain  a  lot  for  a  meeting-house,  in  a  man- 
ner somewhat  similar  to  that  above  related.  E.  W.  Stephens, 
J.  L.  Sands,  and  J.  Armstrong,  with  their  families,  had  removed 
from  Pittsburgh  to  Wheeling.  This  gave  strength  and  encour- 
agement to  the  Church  in  that  place.  A  lease  of  three  years 
on  the  new  Masonic  Hall,  in  which  they  worshiped,  was  soon  to 
expire.  What  next  was  to  be  done  for  a  place  of  worship,  was 
a  matter  of  very  grave  consideration.  At  the  close  of  a  meet- 
ing in  that  city,  while  I  was  President  of  the  Pittsburgh  Dis- 
trict, brother  E.  W.  Stephens  invited  me  to  accompany  him  to 
look  at  three  lots,  and  see  which  of  them  I  would  choose  as 
.  most  suitable  to  build  a  meeting-house  on.  The  three  lots 
were,  in  my  judgment,  equally  good,  and  equally  central. 
"Now,"  said  Stephens,  "if  you  will  go  to  our  preacher  and  get 
him  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Church,  and  appoint  a  committee 
to  select  one  of  these  lots,  I  will  buy  it,  pay  for  it,  and  give  it 
to  the  brethren.  Besides,  I  will  do  my  full  share  in  erecting 
the  building.  He  further  urged  that  this  matter  should  receive 
immediate  attention,  as  lots,  building  materials,  and  mechanical 
labor  were  then  cheap,  and  we  should  have  a  house  against  the 
time  when  the  lease  of  the  Masonic  Hall  would  run  out.  When 
I  went  to  the  preacher.  Rev.  N.  Watson,  and  laid  the  whole 
matter  before  him,  and  urged,  by  every  argument  I  could  com- 
mand, an  immediate  action  in  this  case  on  his  part,  he  utterly 
refused  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  the  matter.  "  Selecting 
of  lots  and  building  of  churches  belonged  to  the  membership, 
and  not  to  him;  let  the  members  attend  to  their  own  business, 
and  he  would  attend  to  his."  I  was  astonished  at  such  a  reply 
from  brother  Watson,  who  was  an  excellent  preacher  and  stood 
high  in  the  community,  but  labored  under  a  mistake  as  to  the 
duties  of  a  pastor.  He  was  so  much  opposed  to  the  firm  hold' 
taken  by  the  itinerants  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  upon 
the  temporalities  of  the  people,  that  he  would  not  even  call  a 
Church  meeting  among  our  people,  in  view  of  securing  a  lot 
on  which  to  build  a  meeting-house.  When  the  peoj>le  of  his 
charge  saw  this,  they  should   have   acted   themselves,  without 


TRIP   TO    WESTERN   VIRGINIA.  235 

their  minister,  but  they  never  did.  So,  to  this  day,  Methodist 
Protestantism  has  no  home  in  Wheeling.  At  one  time,  in  the 
history  of  this  Church,  Rev.  F.  A.  Davis,  who  was  a  man  of 
some  talent,  abandoned  his  charge,  to  avoid  his  duty  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  discipline  in  a  difficult  case,  and  they  remained  in  a 
disorganized  state  for  several  years.  This  same  Davis  succeeded 
Watson,  and  by  bad  management  broke  down  the  Church  again,  4;|[^ 
and  left  them  to  shift  for  themselves;  since  which  time  we  have 
had  no  Methodist  Protestant  organization  in  Wheeling.  Davis 
went  South,  and,  it  is  said,  is  now  a  chaplain  in  the  rebel  army. 
I  have  deemed  it  right  to  state  the  foregoing  facts,  that  the 
future  historian  may  be  able  to  tell  why  we  never  succeeded  in 
Wheeling. 

After  this  brief  history  of  Wheeling's  disasters,  it  will  be 
proper  to  return  to  the  rest  of  the  district.  My  first  trip  from 
home  was  to  Western  Virginia;  to  the  region  where  I  had  la- 
bored as  Presiding  Elder  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church; 
where  I  had  sown  the  seeds  of  reform  by  a  free  circulation  of 
the  Mutual  Rights  among  the  people,  without  their  knowing 
who  sent  them  that  periodical;  where  brother  C.  Springer  and 
I,  the  preceding  winter,  had  found  them  ripe  for  organization. 
It  was,  indeed,  a  great  gratification  to  see  my  old  friends  in 
that  section  of  country,  and  to  find  so  many  sturdy  advocates 
of  ecclesiastical  liberty  among  them.  The  work,  in  the  hands 
of  Springer  and  Marshall,  had  greatly  extended  the  preceding 
year ;  the  parent  circuit  had  been  divided,  other  laborers  had 
been  employed,  and  the  spirit  of  revivals  was  to  be  found  in  all 
parts  visited  by  our  preachers.  The  cross  of  Christ  and  Chris- 
tian freedom  stood  firmly  associated  together  in  the  heads  and 
hearts  and  lives  of  our  ministers,  and  God  gave  them  abundant 
success  in  their  labors.  On  the  Monongahela  Circuit,  we  had 
John  Wilson  and  Israel  Thrap ;  on  Hacker's  Creek  Circuit, 
Daniel  Gibbons;  on  Western  Virginia  Mission,  John  Mitchell. 
Thrap  and  Gibbons  were  both  young  men,  not  yet  trained  to 
war;  but  Wilson  and  Mitchell  were  men  of  age,  talent,  and  ex- 
perience, every  way  prepared  to  plant  and  defend  our  cause, 
and  they  did  good  service.     Methodist  Protestantism,  from  that 


236  KECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

time  to  the  present,  has  had  a  firm  hold  on  the  community  in 
Western  Virginia. 

I  next  directed  my  course  to  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  at 
Uniontowu,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  held  a  very  profit- 
able meeting,  and  a  number  of  sinners  were  brought  to  the 
Saviour.  Nine  months  before  that  time.  Union  Circuit  had  no 
existence.  The  number  of  members  was  now  three  hundred 
and  fifty.  The  preachers,  M.  Scott  and  W.  H.  Marshall,  were 
greatly  favored  of  the  Lord  among  that  people.  Passing 
through  Connellsville,  Mount  Pleasant,  and  Blairsville,  preach- 
ing as  I  went,  I  came  to  Clearfield  Circuit,  and  met  my  ap- 
pointment at  the  residence  of  brother  David  Mitchell,  among 
the  high  pines  of  the  Susquehanna.  That  year  Clearfield  Cir- 
cuit had  no  preacher,  but  was  blessed  with  a  living  member- 
ship. In  a  large  upper  room,  in  brother  Mitchell's  house,  we 
had  a  crowded  audience  on  Saturday,  in  the  daytime  and  at 
night,  and  a  still  larger  one  on  Sunday.  But  word  came  from 
the  river  that  high  water  was  sweeping  off  their  lumber.  These 
men  deemed  it  a  duty,  even  on  the  Sabbath-day,  to  save  their 
lumber — the  labor  of  a  whole  summer,  and  their  only  means  of 
living.  So,  this  temporal  interest  caused  many  to  vacate  their 
places  at  the  meeting;  then  we  had  about  room  enough.  It 
was  a  glorious  meeting.  There  were  a  goodly  number  of  con- 
versions and  additions  to  the  Church.  There  was  a  wild,  rude 
grandeur  in  their  singing,  suited  to  the  splendors  of  nature 
around  them.  Even  the  little  boys  prayed,  when  called  on, 
among  the  mourners;  and  with  a  great  deal  of  gravity,  when 
the  small  folks  came  to  the  table,  asked  God's  blessing  on  their 
meals.  Among  those  lofty  Susquehanna  pines — some  of  them 
nearly  two  hundred  feet  high — I  found  a  Christian  people, 
members  of  our  Church,  who,  by  their  religious  energy,  greatly 
captivated  my  heart.  In  that  section  of  the  country,  I  was 
told  of  one  venerable  brother  who,  in  order  that  nothing  might 
escape  him,  usually  prayed  for  '■'■all  the  world  and  elsewhere.'^ 
Some  were  desirous  to  know  where  this  "elsewhere"  could  be; 
finally,  we  fixed  upon  Clearfield  Circuit,  and  to  this  day,  by 
many  of  our  brethren,  it  is  called  by  that  name. 


LABORS   ALONG   THE    OHIO   RIVER.  237 

On  returning  to  Pittsbui'gh,  I  obtained  board  for  my  family, 
during  the  winter,  with  brother  William  Stevenson,  where  they 
were  well  cared  for.  The  winter  months  were  spent  in  visiting 
the  work  in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  the  north-eastern  part 
of  Ohio.  In  all  places  where  I  went,  I  found  an  open  door  for 
Christian  freedom,  and  there  were,  as  in  the  days  of  Paul, 
"many  adversaries."  To  stand  up  stoutly  for  civil  liberty,  and 
then  put  forth,  all  their  strength  in  support  of  ecclesiastical 
bondage,  did  involve  a  great  contradiction  on  the  part  of  our 
old-side  brethren.  The  more  I  found  of  this  kind  of  opposi- 
tion, the  more  lectures  did  I  deliver  on  the  subject  of  Church 
government,  to  expose  the  absurdity  of  such  opposition,  and 
to  convince  the  people  that  liberty  was  as  good  in  the  Church 
as  it  was  in  the  State. 

About  the  first  of  March,  having  found,  by  experience,  that 
brother  Stevenson's  house  was  not  large  enough  for  two  fami- 
lies, I  took  my  family  to  a  boarding-house,  kept  by  Samson 
Averal,  a  member  of  our  Church,  and  thought  they  would  be 
comfortable;  but  it  turned  out  otherwise.  In  a  short  time,  to 
get  the  worth  of  their  money,  and  secure  the  comforts  they 
needed,  a  house  was  rented,  and  they  went  to  themselves.  From 
and  after  that  date,  my  wife  never  had  the  least  idea  of  board- 
ing, in  preference  to  being  mistress  of  her  own  house.  Then 
came  my  five-mouths'  tour  in  the  West. 

As  much  of  my  w'ork  on  the  district  lay  along  the  Ohio  Uiver, 
I  went  by  boat  as  far  down  as  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Wherever 
I  had  work,  I  would  stop  at  the  nearest  point,  get  a  horse  or 
other  conveyance,  and  go  out;  when  my  work  was  done,  return 
to  the  river,  and  go  on  by  boat  to  the  next  field  of  labor. 
Thus  all  that  portion  of  the  district  bordering  on  the  river  in 
Virginia,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Indiana  was  attended  to.  In 
all  places,  at  the  call  of  the  people,  I  gave  explanatory  lectures 
on  the  subject  of  Church  government.  This  I  did  because  it 
was  a  maxim  with  me  that  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
only  existed  to  be  despised,  unless  very  good  reasons  could  be 
shown  for  her  existence.  Every-where  I  found  the  public 
mind   favorable  to   our   principles,  except  in    the   old  Church. 


238  RECOLLECTIONS    OP    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Even  among  them  we  had  many  friends;  but  the  Church-prop- 
erty question  and  a  hick  of  competent  ministers  gi'eatly  re- 
tarded our  progress.  If  the  ministers  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  favorable  to  reform  had  all  come  with  us  in  the 
beginning,  and  if  the  people  could  have  brought  their  Church 
property  with  them,  our  young  brotherhood  would  have  taken  a 
higher  position  than  it  did.  But,  after  all,  as  an  experiment 
had  to  be  made,  to  see  whether  an  itinerant  ministry  and  a  lay 
delegation  could  operate  favorably  together,  it  was,  no  doubt, 
of  Providence,  that  we  opened  out  at  first  on  a  small  scale. 
Our  principles,  now  tested,  may  be  of  service  to  others.  The 
old  Church  may  profit  by  our  example,  if  she  will. 

While  in  Indiana,  I  spent  a  few  days  in  New  Albany,  with 
my  brother,  Edward  Brown,  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  eleven 
years.  All  his  children  were  married,  and  resided  in  the  same 
city.  He  and  his  wife  and  children  were  all  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  but  were  all  liberal  in  their  feel- 
ings toward  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  to  which  a  very 
considerable  proportion  of  my  relations  belong.  It  is  gratify- 
ing to  me  that  so  many  of  my  kindred  have  taken  the  side  of 
ecclesiastical  freedom,  and  that  most  of  my  race  sustain  Church 
relations  somewhere.  Very  few  of  the  extensive  family  connec- 
tion to  which  I  belong  were  Roman  Catholics  or  Calvinists: 
free  government  and  free  grace  suited  them  best. 

On  my  return  up  the  river,  about  the  middle  of  May,  I 
bought  a  horse,  saddle,  and  bridle  in  Cincinnati,  as  my  work 
now  lay  in  the  interior  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  I  had  out- 
standing appointments  until  the  last  week  in  July.  God  had 
given  me  a  fine  constitution,  yet  the  labors  cut  out  for  me  by 
the  preachers  was  rather  beyond  my  strength.  Each  superin- 
tendent would  meet  me  with  an  appointment  on  the  frontier  of 
his  circuit,  and  preach  me  on  from  place  to  place,  until  I  came 
to  some  central  point,  whei'e  the  principal  meeting  was  held. 
When  that  was  over,  and  the  usual  lecture  on  Church  govern- 
ment delivered,  I  went  out  of  the  circuit  as  I  came  in,  preach- 
ing all  the  way.  This  was  the  course  adopted  on  most  of  the 
cii'cuits,  and  it  proved  a  great  trial  on  my  physical  energies. 


RE-ELECTED    PRESIDENT    OF    OHIO    CONFERENCE.         239 

Having  finished  my  Western  tour,  I  readied  home,  in  Pitts- 
burgh, in  safety,  much  worn  down  with  my  toils,  and  found 
my  family  in  comfortable  health.  After  an  absence  of  so  many 
months,  all  the  time  among  strangers,  I  felt  it  pleasant  to  be 
once  more  at  home  with  my  family  and  friends.  After  a  little 
time  for  rest  and  refreshment,  I  went  with  brothers  Shinn  and 
Avery  to  a  camp-meeting,  near  Connellsville,  Pennsylvania.  It 
was  a  meeting  of  great  religious  interest;  many  sinners  were 
converted  to  God,  and  about  one  hundred  were  added  to  the 
Church.  0  that  I  could,  before  I  die,  enjoy  such  another 
campTmeeting!  Both  preachers  and  people  were  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  and  the  glory  of  God 
filled  all  the  woods.  Not  only  on  the  camp-ground,  but  all 
through  that  splendid  forest,  the  voice  of  prayer  went  up  to  the 
Father  of  Mercies,  and  sinners  were  found  seeking  salvation. 
Immediately  after  the  above  meeting,  I  attended,  in  company 
with  a  few  friends,  an  exceedingly  valuable  camp-meeting  on  the 
Youngstown  Circuit,  and  another  on  the  Mount  Pleasant  Circuit, 
of  no  less  value  to  the  Church.  So  ended  my  first  year  in  the 
presidency,  and  preparations  were  then  made  for  the  approach- 
ing Conference. 

On  the  18th  day  of  September,  1832,  the  Ohio  Conference  met 
in  Pittsburgh.  We  had  fifty-one  itinerant  preachers,  and  seven 
thousand,  seven  hundred  and  fourteen  members.  The  increase 
during  the  preceding  year  was  two  thousand,  one  hundred  and 
sixty-three.  I  was  again  elected  President.  This,  to  me,  was  a 
great  trial,  for  I  now  knew,  by  one  year's  experience,  the  priva- 
tions and  toils  of  presidential  life.  Yet,  as  it  was  the  will  of 
the  Conference,  I  submitted  to  the  lot  assigned  me.  To  me  it 
was  a  matter  of  joy  that  the  people,  through  their  delegates,  as 
Well  as  the  preachers,  had  a  voice  in  my  election,  and  I  felt  it  a 
pleasure,  notwithstanding  the  trials,  to  serve  in  freedom's  holy 
cause.  The  Conference  made  a  very  favorable  impression  on  the 
citizens  of  Pittsburgh,  and  our  own  preachers,  on  receiving 
their  appointments,  went  forth  full  of  hope  to  the  labors  of  an- 
other year. 

My  family  were  left  to  move  to  Wheeling,  without  my  assist- 


240  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

ance,  wliile  I  weut,  under  instructions  from  the  Conference,  with 
brother  Sylvester  Dunham  as  traveling  companion,  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cleveland,  to  attend  a  Conference  of  the  Reform 
Methodists.  These  brethren  had,  in  writing,  expressed  a  wish 
to  be  received  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  and  I  was  commissioned  to  attend  their  Conference — ' 
which  met  a  few  days  after  the  adjournment  of  ours — and  if,  in 
my  judgment,  their  views  of  Scripture  doctrine,  morality,  and 
ecclesiastical  economy  were  in  accordance  with  our  own,  to  re- 
ceive them  into  our  branch  of  the  Christian  Church.  The  case 
of  these  Reform  Methodist  brethren  was  carefully  examined  into 
for  about  three  days,  during  which  time  I  conversed  freely  with 
all  their  leading  men,  preached  among  them,  and,  by  request, 
delivered  them  a  lecture  on  Church  government,  explaining  our 
principles  as  fully  as  possible,  in  view  of  giving  them  a  perfect 
understanding  of  what  might  be  gained  or  lost  if  they  came  into 
our  fellowship.  Finally,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  their  Con- 
ference, declaring  themselves  ready  to  adopt  our  constitution  and 
discipline.  By  this  time,  public  attention  was  waked  up  to  what 
was  about  to  transpire,  the  crowd  was  great,  and,  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  people,  the  trustees  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  offered  us  the  use  of  their  house,  very  much  to  the  grief 
of  the  preacher  in  charge,  who  happened  to  be  absent  when 
the  deed  was  done.  Early  in  the  evening,  the  house  was 
crowded.  The  members  of  the  Conference  were  all  up  near  the 
altar,  in  a  body,  so  as  to  act  together.  My  first  work  was  to 
preach  them  a  sermon  on  the  constituent  principles  and  advant- 
ages of  a  Christian  fellowship.  This  being  done,  the  constitu- 
tion and  some  of  the  more  important  portions  of  the  discipline 
were  read  and  adopted  by  the  Conference,  with  great  unanimity. 
It  was  then  agreed  that  the  appointments  made  by  that  body 
should  stand  for  one  year ;  that  the  action  then  taken  should 
be  laid  before  their  societies  for  ratification,  and  that  all  their 
itinerant  preachers,  with  their  delegates,  should  attend  our  next 
Annual  Conference ;  and  so  ended  the  chapter  in  relation  to 
these  brethren.     In  this  transaction  we  gained  several  useful 


DISCUSSION    ON    CnUllCII    GOVERNMENT.  241 

itinerant  preachers  and  about  three  hundred  members.  There 
were  about  twenty-two  members  of  Conference,  ministers  and 
lay  delegates.  Nearly  all  of  them  have  since  passed  away  to 
another  world. 

During  the  foregoing  exercises,  Rev.  Mr.  Janes,  the  preacher 
in  charge,  who  had  been  sitting  back  in  the  congregation,  came 
into  the  pulpit.  He  asked  if  we  were  through  with  our  busi- 
ness. I  replied  that  we  were.  Pie  told  us  he  had  something 
to  say.  He  then  called  in  question  the  truth  of  the  statements 
contained  in  the  prefiiee  of  our  discipline,  pronounced  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  our  Church  government  false ;  said  we 
slandered  both  the  living  and  the  dead,  and  gave  us  a  most  bit- 
ter overliauling.  Brother  Dunham,  being  a  vei-y  sagacious  law- 
yer, took  up  all  his  points,  and  replied  at  considerable  length, 
in  a  very  respectful  and  courteous  manner.  This  did  not  sat- 
isfy the  gentleman.  He  returned  to  the  charge  with  increased 
bitterness,  called  Dunham  a  "  monkey,"  and  sometimes  referred 
to  him  (he  being  a  little  bald)  as  the  "man  that  had  no  hair 
on  his  head."  It  was  then  growing  late,  but  I  asked  to  be 
heard  by  the  assembly  a  little  while.  All  shouted  for  me  to 
"go  on."  So  I  told  the  people  I  should  sustain  all  I  had  to 
say  by  books  published  at  the  gentleman's  own  book-room,  No. 
14  Crosby  Street,  New  York,  which  books  I  had  with  me,  and 
was,  therefore,  ready  for  all  such  eases  as  we  had  now  on  hand. 
Then,  with  all  my  might,  for  about  forty  minutes,  I  carried  the 
war  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  bringing  up  before  that  audi- 
ence all  the  objectionable  features  in  the  ecclesiastical  economy 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  contained  in  their  dis- 
cipline, proving  them  to  be  wrong  in  the  light  of  the  New 
Testament,  in  the  light  of  Mosheim's  Church  History,  and  in 
the  light  of  the  American  Bill  of  Rights,  under  which  the  bat- 
tles of  the  Revolution  were  fought  and  won.  When  I  sat 
down,  Mr.  Janes  arose  to  speak  again;  but  the  people  started 
from  their  seats  and  left  the  house,  complaining,  as  they  went, 
that  he  had  mistreated  the  strangers,  who  had  given  him  no 
cause  of  oiFense.     Whether   men  are   Christians  or  not,  they 


242  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

generally  know  how  Christians  ought  to  behave.  A  man  of 
rudeness  of  manner  and  language  will  always  injure  his  cause 
in  public  estimation,  be  it  good,  bad,  or  indifferent. 

Leaving  brother  Dunham  with  our  newly-adopted  brethren, 
to  attend  their  principal  ratification  meetings,  and  to  meet  me 
again  at  New  Lisbon,  to  assist  in  holding  a  two-days'  meeting, 
I  visited  several  points  on  the  AVestern  Reserve,  to  open  the 
way  for  our  cause  in  that  part  of  Ohio.  It  was  my  plan,  in  all 
places,  first  to  preach  to  the  people  a  Gospel  sermon,  without 
reference  to  the  ecclesiastical  controversy:  and  then,  if  they 
desired  it,  a  lecture  was  given  on  the  subject  of  Church  govern- 
ment. These  lectures  were,  generally  speaking,  well  received. 
I  deemed- it  best  not  to  organize  societies  where  it  was  imprac- 
ticable to  supply  them  with  preaching;  yet,  in  several  places,  I 
found  it  difficult  to  avoid  allying  the  people  to  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church,  whose  ecclesiastical  economy  so  fully  met 
their  approbation.  "When  I  met  brother  Dunham,  at  New  Lis- 
bon, he  reported  the  Reform  Methodist  societies  all  satisfied 
with  their  new  relation,  and  we  then  proceeded  with  our  two- 
days'  meeting.  It  was  well  attended,  and  resulted  in  good  to 
our  small  Church  in  that  place.  After  that  meeting,  brother 
Dunham  and  I  separated.  He  returned  to  his  family  in  Beaver, 
and  I  went  to  mine  in  Wheeling,  where  I  found  them  in  good 
health,  and  comfortably  situated  in  the  midst  of  kind.  Christian 
friends,  with  brother  Ragau  for  their  pastor,  who  appeared  to 
be  doing  good  service  among  his  people. 

After  making  the  necessary  preparation  for  the  wants  of  my 
family  during  the  approaching  winter,  I  again  visited  all  parts 
ill  Western  Virginia  and  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  found  the 
cause  of  Christ — or  rather  the  Methodist  Protestant  department 
of  it — as  a  general  thing,  in  a  prosperous  condition.     Wherever  ", 
we  had  faithful,  self-sacrificing,  pious  laborers  in  the  vineyard,     ■ 
there  we  had  prosperity.     Wherever  we  had,  through  any  mis-  / 
take,  employed  a  ministerial  drone,  there  we  failed,  and  the  work    ; 
went  down.     Faithful,  intelligent  ministers,  full  of  the  constrain- 
ing love  of  Christ  and  of  souls,  I  have  always  found  enlarging 
their  work,  getting  into  new  fields,  and  unfurling  the  banner  of 


A  FORGETFUL  PREACHER.  243 

the  Cross  wherever  there  was  an  opening.  But  an  indolent, 
ease-loving  preacher  will  soon,  if  the  Quarterly  Conference  will 
allow  him,  narrow  down  his  work  to  nothing.  I  returned  to  my 
family  ahout  the  last  of  December,  and  was  employed  during 
the  winter  in  visiting  those  parts  of  the  work  nearest  to  Wheel- 
ing, and  in  rendering  what  assistance  I  could  to  brother  Ragan, 
in  advancing  the  cause  in  that  city. 

Early  in  the  spring,  I  sat  out  on  a  tour  through  the  interior 
of  Ohio,  with  brother  James  McHcnry,  of  Pittsburgh,  for  my 
traveling  companion.  My  plan  of  work  was  so  arranged  as  to 
keep  me  absent  from  home  until  after  Conference  in  September, 
but  my  family  were  to  meet  me  in  Cincinnati  the  first  Sunday 
in  June.  I  found  McHenry  to  be  pious,  intelligent,  and  a  great 
reader  of  books.  Withal,  he  was  very  forgetful  of  his  books  and 
articles  of  clothing.  Once  he  forgot  his  saddle-bag's,  at  a  public 
house  where  he  dined,  nor  did  he  miss  them  until  we  had  trav- 
eled fifteen  miles.  We  were  then  near  the  place  of  my  meet- 
ing, and  it  took  James  all  next  day — Saturday — to  go  after  his 
saddle-bags  and  return.  Edward  Holmes  tells  a  good  joke 
about  James's  bewildering  abstractions.  When  on  his  way  from 
Pittsburgh  to  join  me  in  Steuben ville,  to  make  the  tour  through 
Ohio,  he  stopped  at  Briceland's  Cross-roads,  to  rest  a  few  mo- 
ments. Hitching  his  horse  to  the  sign-post,  he  went  into  the 
public  house,  laid  aside  his  cloak  and  hat,  and  lighted  a  cigar. 
While  he  sat  smoking,  the  thought  of  the  twelve  miles  he  had 
yet  to  go  came  into  his  mind.  He  looked  at  his  watch  and 
found  it  was  late.  "Bless  me!"  said  he,  "I  shall  be  in  the 
night."  Forgetting  his  hat,  but  throwing  on  his  cloak,  out  he 
went,  in  haste,  to  be  off  for  Steubenville.  He  forgot  to  unhitch 
his  horse,  but  mounted  from  the  wrong  side,  with  his  face  to 
the  tail,  and  giving  the  horse  a  cut  with  the  whip,  the  fright- 
ened animal  bounded  up  against  the  sign-post,  amid  the  laugh- 
ter of  all  the  spectators.  Now,  if  Holmes  has  reported  cor- 
rectly, who  upon  earth  that  witnessed  such  a  comical  scene 
could  have  avoided  laughter?  Yet,  after  all  this,  McHenry 
could  remember  what  he  read.  His  mind  was  well  stored  with 
historical  knowledge,  carefully  laid  up  in   chronological  order, 


244  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

and,  considering  his  youth,  he  was  a  capital  preacher.  After 
traveling  with  me  for  several  weeks,  I  gave  him  an  appointment 
to  assist  brother  W.  H.  Collins,  on  Paris  Circuit,  in  Kentucky. 
He  served  a  short  time  in  the  itinerant  ranks,  but  having  poor 
health,  he  returned  to  his  friends.  He  now  resides  in  Pitts- 
burgh, where,  for  a'  number  of  years,  he  has  been  a  valuable 
teacher  in  one  of  the  public  schools.  I  trust  he  will  pardon 
me  for  relating  the  foregoing  anecdote,  as  I  hardly  know  how 
to  leave  it  untold. 

This  was  a  great  cholera  year  in  various  parts  of  our  coun- 
try. As  already  stated,  when  I  reached  Cincinnati,  on  the  first 
of  June,  instead  of  meeting  my  family,  according  to  arrange- 
ment, I  received  a  letter  calling  me  home  to  Wheeling,  and 
stating  that  twenty-one  deaths  by  cholera  had  occurred  the  day 
the  letter  was  written,  that  Mrs.  Brown's  mother  was  one  of  the 
victims,  and  that  my  wife  and  her  sister  were  both  very  danger- 
ously ill.  I  immediately  returned  home,  spent  about  two  weeEs 
among  the  sick,  and  then  brought  my  family  to  Cincinnati,  and 
left  them  in  the  care  of  my  highly-esteemed  friends,  Moses 
Lyon  and  his  good  lady — both  excellent  members  of  our 
Church — until  I  completed  the  labors  of  the  year  in  Indiana 
and  Kentucky.  In  Illinois,  some  circuits  at  that  time  were 
being  formed,  but,  owing  to  the  great  extent  of  the  work  in 
other  regions,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  reach  that  distant 
field. 

During  this  year  my  lectures  on  Church  government  were 
very  frequent.  I  did  not  volunteer  them,  or  force  them  on  the 
people.  As  our  Church  was  in  her  infancy,  the  people  every- 
where seemed  desirous  of  knowing  our  ecclesiastical  principles, 
what  the  difference  was  between  our  Church  government  and 
that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  all  the  reasons  of 
our  independent  existence  as  a  Christian  community  among  the 
Churches  already  established  in  our  country.  To  my  mind  it 
was  as  clear  as  the  daylight  of  heaven  could  make  it,  that,  as 
sects  were  so  numerous,  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  only 
existed  to  be  despised,  unless  very  good  reason  could  be  shown 
for  her  existence.     Yet  I  deemed  it  safest  to  put  the   people 


LECTURES    ON   CHURCH   GOVERNMENT.  245 

'between  me  and  harm,  by  refusing  to  lecture  unless  they  called 
for  it.  Most  generally,  where  information  was  wanted  on  the 
questions  at  issue  between  the  old  Church  and  ours,  some  one 
would  bring  the  matter  before  the  public  congregation  at  the 
close  of  service  on  Sunday  morning,  and,  by  a  rising  vote,  call 
for  a  lecture.  When  this  was  done,  the  responsibility  rested  on 
the  people,  a-nd  they  could  not  apologize  to  our  angry  opponents 
in  the  old  Church,  by  saying  the  lecture  was  thrust  on  them 
without  their  consent.  I  have  always  found  that  lectures  de- 
cently and  respectfully  delivered,  by  request  of  the  people,  on 
Church  governmeut,  have  been  defended  by  the  people. 

At  Zanesville,  Rev.  Joab  W.  Ragan  got  the  Quarterly  Con- 
ference, on  Saturday,  to  call  for  a  lecture.  But  I  declined  giv- 
ing it,  unless  the  Sunday  congregation  would  call  for  it.  The 
case  came  before  the  congregation,  and  a  full  house,  by  a  rising 
vote,  requested  it  to  be  delivered  on  the  following  Wednesday 
ntwht.  On  Monday,  I  found  that  the  contemplated  lecture  was 
causing  considerable  excitement  among  the  members  of  the  old 
Church.  To  intimidate  me,  I  was  informed,  by  one  who  pro- 
fessed to  know,  that  three  distinguished  ministers  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  D.  Young,  L.  Hamline,  and  J.  Trim- 
ble, intended  a  reply.  I  then  and  there  expressed  a  wish  to 
have  them  reply  at  the  time  of  my  lecture,  or  whenever  it  might 
suit  them.  On  Wednesday  night,  my  lecture  was  delivered  to 
a  crowded  assembly,  and  I  was  told  that  Hamline  and  Trimble 
were  present.  It  occupied  two  hours  and  ten  minutes,  covering 
the  whole  ground  of  controversy  between  the  parties.  I  then 
mentioned  the  boast  of  the  sheriff — an  Episcopal  Methodist — 
which  I  had  heard  of  fifty  miles  off,  that  he  would  sell  the  meet- 
ing-house we  were  then  in,  for  a  debt  that  was  on  it  of  six  hun- 
dred dollars ;  and  returned  thanks  to  the  citizens  for  helping 
our  brethren  to  pay  that  debt  the  week  before,  so  that  the  re- 
lentless sheriff  could  not  now  get  his  rapacious  hands  on  it. 
The  anecdote  of  the  wheels  was  told,  to  the  great  amusement 
of  the  assembly.  In  conclusion,  I  informed  the  audience  that 
I  had  been  very  much  gratified  to  learn  that  D.  Young,  L. 
Hamline,  and  J.  Trimble  stood  pledged  for  a  reply.     I  intended 


246  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

to  tave  tteir  points  of  opposition  taken,  and  sent  to  me:   if 
spared,  I  would  return  to  Zanesville  and  review  them. 

The  day  following,  I  found  that  the  contemplated  reply  was 
to  be  made  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  the  next  Mon- 
day evening,  and  that  there  was  no  small  stir  in  town  about 
my  lecture.  It  had  many  friends  and  some  very  bitter  enemies. 
As  it  was  not  possible  for  me  to  be  present  to  hear  the  reply, 
I  appointed  two  young  gentlemen  to  attend  and  take  notes  sep- 
araieljj^  that  from  the  two  I  might,  with  certainty,  be  able  to 
review  the  reply  of  my  opponents  with  fairness  and  candor. 
Monday  evening  came,  and  with  it  a  crowded  assembly  at  the 
appointed  place.  My  two  young  friends  were  there  to  take 
notes.  David  Young  was  in  the  altar.  The  congregation,  after 
waiting  long,  began  to  be  impatient.  Hamline  and  Trimble, 
who  had  been  relied  on  for  the  reply,  did  not  appear;  and  I 
was  informed  that  there  was  much  mirth  and  many  speculations 
in  the  assembly  as  to  the  reasons  of  their  absence.  If  these 
gentlemen  did  not  appear,  and  no  reply  was  made,  the  inevita- 
ble result  would  be,  that  Methodist  Protestant  stock  would  take 
a  rise  in  the  Zanesville  market.  Finally,  David  Young  arose, 
went  into  the  pulpit,  and  said,  in  his  own  peculiar  way,  with  a 
nasal  twang  to»all  his  utterances,  "  I  believe  our  brethren  have 
concluded  to  treat  George  Brown's  lecture  on  Church  govern- 
ment with  silent  contempt;"  so,  lifting  up  his  hands,  he  said, 
"Let  us  look  to  God  and  be  dismissed."  When  the  benedic- 
tion had  been  pronounced,  the  people  went  forth  with  laughter 
to  their  homes.  After  all,  was  not  this  "silent  contempt"  the 
better  policy?  To  have  attempted  a  reply  and  failed  in  argu- 
ment, or  to  have  supplied  the  place  of  argument  with  abuse, 
would  have  injured  them  and  helped  us,  in  that  community, 
and  these  men  had  sense  enough  to  know  it;  therefore,  they 
honored  me  with  their  "silent  contempt."  To  overthrow  a  lec- 
ture in  favor  of  Christian  liberty,  founded  on  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, the  American  Bill  of  Bights,  Mosheim's  Church  History, 
Lord  King's  Account  of  the  Primitive  Church,  and  other  stand- 
ard works,  published  at  their  own  Book  Concern  in  New  York, 
these  men  had  not  the  heart  to  undertake;  so  they  treated  me 


LECTURES    ON   CHURCH   GOVERNMENT.  247 

•with  "silent  contempt,"  and  the  community  laughed  contemptu- 
ously at  their  cowardice. 

The  foregoing  is  the  account  of  this  ludicrous  aifair  from  my 
two  young  friends,  whom  I  had  appointed  to  take  notes  for  me, 
to  use  when  I  returned  to  Zanesville  that  same  week.  Indeed, 
it  was  the  general  account.  So,  having  nothing  to  review,  I 
•went  on  my  way,  with  renewed  confidence  in  the  correctness  of 
our  principles. 

I  will  here  give  another  sample  of  ecclesiastical  lecturing. 
Brother  Forsha,  in  Preble  County,  Ohio,  published  an  appoint- 
ment, on  his  own  responsibility,  for  me  to  deliver  a  lecture  on 
Church  government,  in  an  orchard,  and  came  fifteen  miles  after 
me  to  perform  that  service.  So  I  turned  aside  eight  or  nine 
miles  out  of  my  regular  course,  to  fill  the  appointment  in  the 
orchard.  When  I  arrived,  I  found  in  waiting  a  very  large  as- 
semblage of  people.  Among  them  were  thirteen  preachers,  one 
of  whom  was  Dr.  Joseph  Waterman,  then  in  charge  of  the  cir- 
cuit in  that  vicinity.  By  request,  I  preached  them  a  sermon. 
My  text  was  Romans,  chap,  xiv,  verse  12:  "So  then  every  one 
of  us.  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God."  Human  responsi- 
bility to  God  was  the  theme.  On  it  I  spent  one  hour  and  ten 
minutes,  without  sparing  my  strength.  Dr.  Waterman,  in  clos- 
ing the  exercises,  spoke  very  favorably  of  his'  old  friend's  dis- 
course, pressing  home  its  principles  and  duties  upon  the  audi- 
ence with  a  most  emphatic  exhortation.  I  then  stated  to  the 
people  that  I  had  come  to  lecture  on  Church  government,  but 
had  been  drawn  into  preaching  a  sermon,  contrary  to  my  ex- 
pectations, and  must  now  dismiss  them,  get  a  little  refreshment, 
and  go  on  my  way.  Against  this  there  was  a  general  backing 
of  ears — an  indication  of  dissatisfaction.  I  told  them  that 
through  the  heat  I  had  traveled  fifteen  miles,  had  preached 
with  all  my  strength  for  more  than  an  hour,  and  was  hungry, 
and  not  in  a  good  physical  condition  to  do  justice  to  my  cause. 
But  these  people  would  take  no  denial — a  lecture  they  must 
have.  A  Methodist  Episcopal  local  preacher  moved  that  "Mr. 
Brown  proceed  at  once  to  deliver  a  lecture  to  that  assembly;" 
a  Baptist  minister   seconded    the   motion,  and  brother  W.  W. 


248  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Paul,  of  our  Cliurcli,  put  tlie  question,  calling  for  a  rising  vote. 
Every  soul  in  that  assembly  arose  but  Dr.  Waterman.  He 
wanted  the  lecture,  but  pitied  me  in  my  fatigued  condition,  so 
he  remained  on  his  seat,  and  laughed  heartily  at  the  enthusi- 
astic zeal  of  those  around  him. 

Being  thus  pressed  into  service,  under  circumstances  so  un- 
favorable to  success,  I  asked  for  a  few  moments'  rest,  that  I 
might  cool  oiF,  get  out  my  books,  and  make  my  arrangements. 
This  being  done,  all  my  strength  and  freshness  seemed  to  have 
returned  to  me,  and  I  had  full  command  of  all  my  powers. 
Then,  for  about  two  hours  and  a  quarter,  with  all  my  might, 
I  gave  them  that  lecture  on  Church  government.  All  the  au- 
thorities I  used,  save  the  Bible,  were  from  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Book-room  in  New  York.  I  aimed  to  cover  the  whole 
ground  of  the  controversy,  to  give  hard  arguments  in  mild  lan- 
guage, knowing  that  harshness  might  offend,  but  would  not 
convince.  Toward  the  close,  I  glanced  at  the  millenial  glory 
of  the  Church  in  the  light  of  prophesy,  when  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the 
sea ;  when  there  shall  be  nothing  left  to  hurt  or  harm  in 
all  God's  holy  mountain;  when  the  progressive  reign  of  the 
Son  of  God  shall  have  put  his  enemies  under  his  feet — shall 
have  put  down  all  adverse  "rule,  authority,  and  power,"  in 
Church  and  State,  throughout  the  world.  I  then  asked  the 
question.  Can  such  an  ecclesiastical  government  as  that  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  live  in  that  glorious  day  ?  In  the 
full  blaze  and  glory  of  that  millenial  day,  can  a  Church  gov- 
ernment exist  in  which  the  itinerant  clergy  have  all  the  legis- 
lative, judicial,  and  executive  power,  and  the  people  none? 
From  all  parts  of  the  assembly  the  answer  came,  "  No,  no,  no ! " 
Will  not  all  civil,  ecclesiastic,  and  domestic  slavery  be  done 
away?  The  answer  was,  "Yes,  yes,  yes!"  Does  it  not  seem 
likely  that  in  the  millenial  era,  our  doctrine  of  mutual  rights, 
under  the  light  of  heaven,  will  be  very  popular,  and  fill  the 
world?  Again  the  answer  was,  "Yes,  yes,  yes!"  So  my  lec- 
ture closed  in  something  like  a  camp-meeting  excitement. 

Dr.  Waterman  then  arose  and  expressed  his  approbation  of 


LECTURES    ON    CHURCH    GOVERNMENT.  249 

tte  lecture.  He  said  my  quotations  from  the  authorities  I  had 
used  were  all  undeniably  fair,  and  that  my  lecture  had  been 
mild  and  re.-pectful.  If  at  any  time,  in  the  hurry  of  speaking, 
a  harsh  word  had  been  used,  I  had  always  recalled  it,  and  sub- 
stituted a  milder  one  in  its  place.  "But,"  said  he,  "I  think 
I  can  fairly  draw  other  conclusions  from  my  old  friend's  his- 
toric facts  and  premises."  The  Doctor  then  gave  out  for  him- 
self an  appointment  to  lectui'e  on  Church  government,  at  their 
meeting-house,  in  three  weeks  from  that  time.  He  named  the 
four  propositions  he  intended  to  sustain.  (I  have  forgotten 
them.)  Then  beginning  at  the  first,  he  said:  "This  first  prop- 
osition I  mean  to  sustain  from  the  writings  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian fathers."  A  lusty,  shrill-voiced  Baptist  minister,  piping 
hot  with  enthusiastic  zeal,  called  out  to  him,  "  You  had  better 
sustain  it  from  the  Holy  Scriptures."  The  Doctor  was  startled 
at  the  loud,  half-screaming  demand,  and  threw  up  his  hand  as 
if  to  fend  off  a  blow.  After  a  moment's  pause,  he  said  again, 
"  This  first  proposition  I  mean  to  sustain  from  the  early  Chris- 
tian fathers."  Then  came  the  shrill  scream  of  the  Baptist 
preacher,  more  piercing  than  before,  "  You  had  better  sustain 
it  from  the  Holy  Scriptures."  The  Doctor,  being  unable  to 
state  how  he  would  sustain  his  propositions  without  that  kind 
of  screaming  interruption,  gave  the  matter  up  in  despair. 

I  then  pi'oposed  to  the  Doctor  to  give  us  his  lecture  then;  he 
had  heard  me,  and  I  wanted  to  hear  him ;  but  he  declined,  say- 
ing the  day  was  far  spent,  and  the  people  were  weary.  I  told 
him  I  should,  if  spared,  be  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  the  Sun- 
day after  his  lecture,  aud  then  appointed  two  young  lawyers  to 
be  present,  take  notes,  and  send  them  to  me,  and  if  there  were 
any  material  contradictions  of  my  statements  and  arguments,  I 
would  return  and  defend  my  lecture.  When  the  day  came, 
there  was,  as  my  two  friends  informed  me,  an  immense  gather- 
ing of  the  people,  but  the  Doctor  did  not  appear.  He  had 
thought  better  of  the  matter.  He  spent  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  an  active  itinerant  in  the  Ohio  Annual  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church.  He  was  a  man  of  splendid  in- 
tellect, deep  piety,  and  great  moral  worth. 
16 


250  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

I  give  these  cases  as  samples  of  my  struggles  in  the  origin  of 
our  cause  in  the  West.  Others  wrote  more  than  I  did,  but  I  met 
the  opposition  on  the  stump,  throughout  the  West.  I  had  to 
perform  this  labor  to  save  our  cause.  These  lectures  made  the 
public  acquainted  with  the  ecclesiastical  principles  of  the  two 
Churches,  and  gave  us  sympathy  and  defense  in  all  places  where 
they  were  delivered.  All  our  preachers,  even  down  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  and  in  all  time  to  come,  should  be  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  principles  of  our  ecclesiastical  economy.  Wherever  the 
people  need  information,  or  our  cause  needs  defense,  lectures 
should  be  given.  Would  the  General  Conference  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  in  1864,  ever  have  hinted  to  their  mem- 
bers that  they  may  have  lay  delegation  if  they  want  it,  if  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  by  her  present  existence  and  past 
discussions,  had  not,  like  John  the  Baptist,  gone  before  in  this 
matter,  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord?  Many  mountains  have 
been  pulled  down,  valleys  filled  up,  the  crooked  made  straight, 
and  rough  places  even,  by  the  founders  of  the  Methodist  Prot- 
estant Church.  Let  no  man  stand  on  their  shoulders  and  un- 
dervalue their  labors. 

The  fifth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Ohio  District  was  held 
in  Cincinnati,  in  September,  1833.  We  then  had  fifty-eight 
itinerant  ministers,  one  hundred  and  fifty  unstationed  ministers 
and  preachers,  and  ten  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-eight 
members  in  the  district.  At  that  Conference  the  Pittsburgh 
District  was  set  off";  Rev.  A.  Shinn  was  its  President,  and  I  was 
continued  in  the  presidency  on  the  Ohio  District.  This  third 
year  in  the  presidency  involved  a  great  struggle  in  my  mind. 
The  two  preceding  years  had  been  hard  on  my  physical  ener- 
gies, and  hard  on  my  family.  I  had  been  thrown  upon  my  own 
scanty  means  for  full  half  of  my  support.  They  desired  my 
services  in  Wheeling,  and  gave  a  pledge  of  an  ample  supply  of 
all  my  wants.  To  accept  of  the  presidency  necessitated  a  ro» 
moval  from  Wheeling,  where  I  had  my  family  comfortably  sit- 
uated, to  Xenia,  Ohio,  and  an  additional  exhaustion  of  my  own 
means,  which  I  could  not  conveniently  afi"ord.  But,  upon  re- 
flection, for  the  sake  of  good  example,  and  remembering  that  I 


REMOVAL    TO    XENIA.  251 

and  all  I  had  upon  earth  belonged  to  the  Lord,  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  take  the  appointment.  I  had  no  sooner  done  this  than 
an  effort  was  made  by  William  Disney,  in  Cincinnati,  and  all 
the  money  raised  to  bear  the  expenses  of  my  removal.  Many 
a  time  have  our  Cincinnati  brethren  helped  the  poor  preachers, 
and  encouraged  them  onward  in  their  itinerant  toils.  The  Con- 
ference was,  as  usual,  well  sustained  in  that  city,  and  made  a 
fine  impression  on  the  public  mind.  The  preachers  all  went 
forth  to  their  appointed  work  full  of  hope,  and  we  all  felt  our 
new  Church  relations  to  be  very  comfortable.  To  spread  re- 
ligion and  all  kinds  of  freedom  proper  to  man  is  a  glorious 
work.      Christianity  in  chains  is  a  mclanchohj  sight. 

When  Conference  was  over,  my  wife  and  I  traveled  in  com- 
pany with  brothers  A.  Shinn,  W.  Garrard,  and  their  wives,  as 
far  as  Wheeling.  There  we  stopped  to  prepare  for  a  removal, 
and  our  agreeable  companions  went  on  to  Pittsburgh.  When 
we  parted,  brother  Garrard,  who  had  paid  our  expenses  all  the 
way,  refused  to  have  the  money  refunded,  and  generously  gave 
me  twenty  dollars  in  addition,  saying,  "  You  will,  no  doubt, 
have  need  of  it  out  in  the  West."  Such  instances  of  kindness 
deserve  to  be  recorded.  Many  a  time  God  hath  sent  me  help 
in  time  of  need,  by  the  hands  of  his  servants,  and  even  wicked 
men  have  sometimes  been  my  benefactors.  Such  is  the  good- 
ness of  God. 

In  due  time  we  effected  our  removal  to  Xenia,  where  all  were 
strangers;  yet,  we  soon  found  friends,  among  whom  no  one 
proved  to  be  a  better  friend  than  Rev.  James  Towler,  who  care- 
fully and  constantly  attended  to  the  wants  of  my  family,  sup- 
plying them,  when  I  was  out  on  the  district,  with  all  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  He  who  travels  as  extensively  as  I  did,  needs  a 
James  Towler  near  his  family,  to  watch  over  their  interests  with 
fatherly  kindness.  This  brother  had  induced  me  to  locate  my 
family  in  Xenia,  under  certain  promises,  and  he  made  all  his 
promises  good.  He  was  a  noble-hearted,  Christian  gentleman. 
Happy  in  his  life,  triumphant  in  his  death,  he  now  rests  in 
heaven. 

This  was  to  me  a  year  of  more  than  ordinary  toil.     The  au- 


252  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

tuma,  the  winter,  and  until  the  middle  of  April,  were  spent  in 
visiting  the  circuits  and  stations  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Ken- 
tucky. Then  came  the  General  Conference  in  Georgetown,  D.  C. 
In  going  to  that  Conference  I  took  my  family  with  me  to  Wheel 
ing,  and  left  them  to  visit  among  our  friends,  until  my  return. 
Then,  taking  the  venerable  N.  Snethen,  who  came  by  steam- 
boat from  Louisville,  into  my  carriage,  I  proceeded  across  the 
mountains,  to  the  seat  of  the  Conference.  What  man  upon 
earth  ever  had  a  more  agreeable  traveling  companion  !  He  had 
great  hoards  and  stores  of  information  on  all  subjects  that  could 
come  within  the  range  of  the  conversation  of  travelers.  His 
temper  was  cast  into  the  mold  of  heavenly  mildness.  His 
logical  and  philosophical  powers  were  of  the  highest  order ;  and 
for  richness  of  instructive  and  amusing  anecdote,  he  could  not 
be  surpassed.  The  General  Conference  elected  Mr.  Snethen  its 
President.  A  better  choice  for  that  office  could  not  have 
been  made.  However,  one  afternoon  the  members  were  greatly 
amused  to  find  their  President  fast  asleep  in  the  chair.  Per- 
haps this  was  owing  to  one  of  those  good  dinners  for  which 
Georgetown  was  so  famous.  The  business  of  that  General  Con- 
ference was  transacted  in  great  harmony,  and  we  all  returned 
to  our  homes,  full  of  hope  of  final  success  in  our  ecclesiastical 
enterprise.  For  a  traveling  companion,  on  my  return  to  the 
West,  I  had  my  good  friend  Rev.  Saul  Heukle,  of  Springfield, 
Ohio,  until  I  came  to  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  where  I  met 
my  family,  with  whom  I  made  a  brief  visit  to  Pittsburgh  and 
Steubenville,  and  so  returned  to  Xenia. 

After  spending  June  and  July  in  the  Ohio  part  of  the  work, 
I  took  Daniel  H.  Home,  jr.,  a  youth  of  eighteen  years  of  age, 
into  my  carriage  as  a  traveling  companion,  and  set  out  on  a 
tour  of  about  eight  weeks  and  nearly  eleven  hundred  miles  of 
travel  through  Indiana  and  Illinois.  We  attended  two  camp- 
meetings  in  Indiana  and  three  in  Illinois — all  very  successful. 
Beside  these,  I  met  all  my  other  appointments  in  the  West, 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  lecturing  on  Church  gov- 
ernment wherever  I  went.  Rev.  W.  H.  Collins  and  wife  fell 
in  with  us  in  Indiana,  and  were  with  us  in  all  our  travels,  and 


PRESIDENTL\L    TOUR   THROUGH    THE    'WEST.  253 

at  all  our  meetings,  until  Daniel  and  I  turned  for  home.  At 
one  of  the  camp-meetings  in  Indiana,  held  on  a  Presbyterian 
camp-ground,  an  elder  of  that  Church  gave  me  a  very  curious 
account  of  a  way  to  comfort  mourners.  He  said  that  the  year 
before,  at  their  meeting  on  the  same  ground,  they  had  power- 
ful preaching.  Many  were  awakened  under  the  Word,  and  cried 
to  God  for  mercy.  Others  fell  to  the  ground,  and  lay  there  in 
deep  distress,  asking,  in  the  language  of  the  jailor,  "What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  With  them  no  conversation,  singing, 
or  praying  was  allowed  by  the  preachers,  lest  their  cases  should 
be  made  worse.  But  from  the  well  near  at  hand  pitchers  of" 
water  were  brought  and  poured  on  them,  to  relieve  them  of 
their  distress.  Gold  comfort  this!  Presbyterians  now  under- 
stand the  work  of  God  better. 

Besides  the  enjoyment  I  had  in  preaching  the  Gospel  among 
my  brethren  of  the  ministry  and  membership  of  the  Church, 
and  in  witnessing  the  conversion  of  sinners  and  the  advance- 
ment of  our  cause  in  the  West,  I  was  greatly  delighted  with 
the  splendor  of  the  prairies  in  that  region.  Sometimes  we  were 
quite  out  of  sight  of  timber;  the  blue  sky  came  down  to  the 
green  grass  all  around  us.  As  there  had  been  no  rain  for  sev- 
eral weeks,  the  boundless  view,  the  dust,  and  the  heat  hurt  my 
eyes,  and  ever  since  that  tour  I  have  had  to  use  spectacles.  I 
have  often  thought  of  moving  to  Illinois,  but  finally  concluded 
that  mine  was  an  upland  constitution,  and  that  I  had  better 
remain  somewhere  near  the  mountains,  to  drink  the  pure  water 
and  breathe  the  free  air  of  a  higher  region.  The  splendor  and 
glory  of  a  country  are  nothing  when  weighed  in  the  balance 
with  good  health. 

During  my  first  two  years  in  the  presidency,  my  traveling 
was  nearly  all  on  horseback,  of  which,  at  that  time,  I  was  very 
fond,  and  I  rode  down  three  horses  each  year.  The  third  year 
I  wore  out  two  in  the  service.  After  my  return  from  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  I  went  my  great  Western  tour  in  a  carriage. 
By  this  mode  of  traveling,  a  hoi'se  would  last  longer.  None  of 
my  horses  died  on  my  hands:  when  they  cculd  serve  me  no 
longer,  I  exchanged  them  for  others — generally  at  great  sacri- 


254  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

fice — and  went  on  my  way.  My  horses  cost  the  Church  noth- 
ing; all  this  expense  fell  on  myself.  In  the  incipiency  of  our 
Church  operations,  we  had  no  regularly  digested  financial  sys- 
tem: as  a  consequence  of  this,  I  was  very  poorly  paid.  Each 
year,  according  to  financial  reports  now  in  my  possession,  my 
income  from  the  Church  was  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
dollars.  But  to  establish  and  build  up  the  Methodist  Protest- 
ant Church  was  my  object,  and  if  what  I  received,  together 
with  my  own  scanty  means,  would  keep  me  going,  I  determined 
to  go  on  in  the  service  of  the  Church.  I  performed  hard  labor, 
with  poor  pay,  in  a  good  cause,  and  have  left  it  for  all  after- 
grumblers  to  quit  tlie  itinerant  field  because  they  could  not 
grow  rich  by  preaching  the  Gospel.  I  freely  own  that  the 
high  constitutional  principle  of  the  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  :  "  They  who  preach  the  Gospel  shall  live  of  the  Gospel ;" 
but  there  have  been  times,  and  there  may  yet  be  times,  when, 
pay  or  no  pay,  the  work  of  the  Lord  must  be  done,  if  a  man's 
own  means,  added  to  the  salary  aJBForded  by  the  Church,  will 
enable  him  to  do  it.  In  such  a  day  I  have  lived,  and,  to  the 
best  of  my  ability,  I  have  discharged  my  high  obligations.  Three 
years  of  such  constant  absence  from  my  family,  together  with 
the  incessant  tolls  of  tnivel,  preaching,  lecturing,  writing  let- 
ters, and  attending  love-feasts,  quarterly  conferences,  etc.,  made 
a  deep  impression  on  my  physical  constitution,  and  a  more  local 
sphere  of  action  bec-ame  desirable.  To  avoid  a  removal  and 
oblige  kind  friends,  Xenia  was  the  place  in  which  I  wished,  if 
the  Conference  would  so  appoint,  to  labor  the  ensuing  year. 


REMOVAL    TO    CINCINNATI.  255 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Removal  to  Cincinnati— An  Opinion  on  Ecclesiastical  Law— Second  Year  in  Cin- 
cinnati-General Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church— Anecdote  of 
Rev.  N.  Snetubn  and  Rev.  W.  Bueke— Election  of  Bishop  Moeeis— Transfer  to 
THE  Pittsburgh  Conference. 

The  Oliio  Annual  Conference  held  its  sixth  session  in  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky.  On  my  return  from  the  West,  Daniel  Home 
and  I  rested  a  few  days  with  my  brother  Edward  in  New  Al- 
bany, Indiana,  and  then  went  on  to  the  Conference.  I  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Cincinnati  Station,  with  Rev.  Josiah  Denham, 
late  of  the  Baptist  Church,  for  my  assistant.  He  was  from 
England — a  man  of  extensive  learning,  a  capital  preacher,  and  a 
real  Christian  gentleman.  Yet,  after  all,  I  would  rather  have 
gone  to  Xenia,  to  avoid  a  removal  of  my  family,  to  oblige  be- 
loved Christian  friends,  who  had  pledged  themselves  for  my  sup- 
port, and  to  gain  a  little  retirement  from  the  great,  busy  world, 
that  I  might  pursue  my  studies.  I  had  been  so  long  away  from 
my  books  that  I  greatly  desired  to  return  to  them. 

This  was,  all  things  considered,  a  pleasant  Conference,  and 
made  a  good  impression  on  the  community.  Yet,  some  parts 
of  the  official  action  gave  me  pain ;  but  I  cast  the  mantle  of 
charity  over  them,  and  will  not  write  them,  as  it  sometimes 
happens  that  excited  official  bodies  may  do  wrong,  yet  really 
think  themselves  right.  My  wife  met  me  at  the  Conference, 
reported  all  well  at  home,  and  when  the  session  closed  we 
spent  about  a  week  in  New  Albany,  at  the  house  of  my  brother, 
and  then  returned  home  to  prepare  for  a  removal  to  Cincin- 
nati. "We  sent  our  household  goods  to  Dayton,  to  go  by  canal, 
but  the  family  went  by  carriage,  with  our  two  little  children 


256  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

singing  all  tlie  way.  Our  first  night  in  Cincinnati  was  spent 
with  my  old  friend  Moses  Lyon;  but  the  next,  our  goods  hav- 
ing come,  was  spent  in  our  own  house.  My  first  work  in  that 
station,  besides  preaching  and  attending  other  meetings,  was  to 
pay  a  pastoral  visit  to  all  the  members  of  the  Church.  Mean- 
time, occasional  calls  were  made  by  the  sisters  to  see  my  fam- 
ily; but  we  were  in  Cincinnati  two  full  months  before  a  single 
soul  ever  invited  us  out  to  eat  dinner,  or  take  tea,  or  any  such 
thing.  At  our  house  we  had  social  hearts,  but  in  that  city  we 
seemed  likely  to  have  no  social  intercourse,  and  began  to  feel 
that  the  change  from  Xenia  to  Cincinnati  was  an  unhappy  one 
for  us.  This  thing  led  to  many  speculations  in  our  minds,  all 
of  them  resulting  in  our  discomfort.  One  evening,  at  Wm. 
Hart's  shoe-store — a  kind  of  head-quarters,  where  the  brethren 
met  to  talk  over  matters — I  was  asked,  by  Moses  Lyon,  how  I 
liked  Cincinnati.  I  said,  "  That  is  a  very  plain  question,  and 
I  must  give  it  a  plain  answer.  I  am  not  comfortable  here ;  we 
are  kept  at  arm's  length,  cut  ofi"  from  all  social  intercourse 
with  our  people,  save  in  the  religious  meetings,  and  have  not 
been  invited  to  break  bread  with  a  single  family  since  we  have 
been  here,  which  is  now  about  two  full  months."  There  was 
then  a  brief  pause.  Some  one  said  the  thing  was  utterly  and 
shamefully  wrong,  and  he  wondered  at  it,  for  it  did  not  look 
much  like  Cincinnati.  Another  said  he  supposed  each  one 
thought  all  the  rest  of  the  brethren  were  inviting  us  to  their 
houses  for  social  entertainment,  and  it  would  soon  come  his 
turn;  but  it  appeared  all  had  neglected  it,  to  the  great  discom- 
fort of  the  pastor  and  his  family,  whose  feelings  all  felt  sa- 
credly bound  to  respect.  Moses  Lyon  then  drew  himself  up 
to  his  full  height,  and  giving  me  rather  a  quizzical  look,  said: 
"  You  and  your  family  may  now  prepare  yourselves ;  I  '11  go 
bail  that  you  will  soon  have  as  much  good  eating  among  our 
people  as  you  are  able  to  do."  Here  the  matter  ended;  we  all 
went  to  our  homes,  and  I  soon  had  invitations  enough,  and 
more  than  enough.  As  it  was  once  said  of  Henry  Clay  eating 
his  way  through  Virginia,  so  it  might  be  said  of  me;  I  was 
kept  going  until  I  had  about  eaten  my  way  through  our  Church 


FIRST   YEAR   IN   CINCINNATI.  257 

in  Cincinnati.  A  more  social-hearted,  kind,  benevolent,  Cliris- 
tian  people  I  have  never  served,  since  I  have  been  in  the  Gos- 
pel ministry,  than  I  found  in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
in  Cincinnati.  They  proved  their  faith  and  Christian  love  by 
their  works,  as  my  family  still  very  affectionately  remember. 
Their  liberality  is  known  to  all  the  Churches. 

My  conjectures,  during  the  two  months  of  probation  before 
we  were  fully  admitted  into  society,  were  about  the  following: 
Probation  is  a  law  that  runs  throughout  all  animal  nature,  from 
the  least  to  the  greatest.  If  a  duck,  a  goose,  a  chicken,  a  pig, 
a  cow,  or  horse  happened  to  get  among  strangers  of  the  same 
species,  he  is  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  as  an  intruder  that 
has  no  business  there.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  they  make 
war  upon  him,  and  he  has  to  undergo  something  of  a  probation 
before  he  is  admitted  into  full  fellowship,  and  can  quietly  go 
to  feeding  in  the  pasture  along  with  the  rest.  This  is  the  law 
among  animals,  and  in  many  new  cities  it  obtains  among  men, 
where  strangers  do  not  bring  introductory  letters  upon  which 
to  claim  recognition  at  once.  Cincinnati  was  a  new  city,  of 
sudden  growth,  full  of  strangers,  but  few  of  whom  knew  their 
next-door  neighbors.  As  many  of  these  persons  were  not,  upon 
trial,  found  to  be  of  the  right  kind,  the  older  inhabitants  grew 
cautious,  put  all  strangers  on  probation,  and  only  took  them 
into  society  when,  after  due  trial,  they  were  found  worthy. 
With  this  conjecture  on  my  mind,  I  felt  it  painful  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  suspicious  stranger,  compelled  to  stand  out  a  pro- 
bation before  I  could  have  social  intercourse  with  a  people  who 
knew  me  to  be  an  accredited  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  had 
sought  my  services  as  a  pastor.  But  there  was  no  such  idea 
among  them.  Each  thought  the  others  were  inviting  us  to  the 
socialities  of  their  families,  and  all  intended  to  do  it  in  due 
time.  The  moral  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  this : 
Preachers  should  not  be  hasty  in  judging  their  people  for  ap- 
parent neglects ;  and  the  people,  immediately  on  their  pastor's 
arrival  among  them,  should  make  haste  to  show  themselves 
kind.  This  will  promote  the  happiness  of  all  parties,  and  secure 
the  greatest  amount  of  usefulness. 


258  EECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINEKANT    LIFE. 

Those  of  our  members  in  Cincinnati  who  came  out  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Ciiurch — some  by  expulsion  for  their  prin- 
ciples, others  by  withdrawal  on  the  same  grounds — were  Chris- 
tians of  the  highest  order  of  intelligence,  piety,  and  unflinching 
firmness  of  character.  The  new  additions  were,  in  the  main, 
equally  respectable.  The  wants  of  such  a  Church,  scattered, 
as  it  was,  all  through  the  city  and  out  into  the  country,  gave 
my  colleague  and  myself  full  employment.  The  leaders'  meet- 
ing and  the  Quarterly  Conference  were  strong,  intelligent  oflicial 
bodies,  and  the  whole  Church  at  that  time  was  in  a  growing, 
healthy  condition.  To  make  my  pulpit  labors  as  valuable  as 
possible,  the  forenoon  of  each  day  in  the  week,  so  far  as  prac- 
ticable, and  the  whole  of  Saturday,  were  sacredly  devoted  to 
study,  in  the  full  faith  that  no  man  can  teach  such  a  people  as 
were  committed  to  my  care,  who  is  not  himself  a  constant 
learner.  Paul's  advice  to  Timothy  seemed  especially  applicable 
to  me :  "  Study  to  show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman 
that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of 
truth."  The  sermon  that  cost  me  neither  mental  labor  nor 
prayer  I  generally  found  to  be  of  little  or  no  advantage  to  the 
people.  Yet,  after  all,  what  God  gave  me,  as  if  by  immediate 
inspiration  while  preaching,  and  which  I  had  never  thought  of 
in  my  study,  often  appeared  to  be  most  productive  of  good.  To 
study  hard  and  pray  much,  in  pulpit  preparations,  is  certainly 
right;  then,  if  a  man  is  not  confined  to  a  manuscript,  as  a  mere 
reader,  God,  by  expanding  the  mind  and  firing  the  heart,  will 
often  make  glorious  additions,  speaking  for  Himself,  through 
an  organ  of  clay,  directly  to  the  people.  Men  may  call  this 
enthusiasm — I  do  not ;  it  must  be  as  I  have  said,  if  Christ,  ac- 
cording to  his  promise,  is  with  his  ministers  always,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.  With  the  mere  reader  of  sermons,  who 
strictly  confines  himself  to  the  manuscript  before  him,  written 
out  in  his  study,  all  after-thoughts  and  sudden  promptings  of 
the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  are  cut  ofi".  Let  preachers  have 
their  well-digested  plans,  if  they  will.  These,  too,  may  be  be- 
fore them  in  the  pulpit,  if  necessary,  as  mere  landmarks;  but  let 
the  inventive   mind  clothe  this  skeleton  with  flesh  and  blood 


AN    OPINION    ON    ECCLESIASTICAL    LAW.  259 

and  skin,  and  glowing  colors,  as  the  impassioned  mind  marches 
through  the  subject,  gathering  inspiration,  as  it  goes,  from  the 
nature  of  the  theme,  the  state  of  the  congregation,  and  the 
Spirit  of  God. 

All  things  considered,  I  had  a  happy  year  in  Cincinnati.  In 
connection  with  the  Cincinnati  Circuit,  we  had  a  very  profitable 
camp-meeting,  which  brought  our  Church  a  considerable  in- 
crease of  members.  At  home,  in  the  city,  there  was  quite  a 
revival.  God  owned  our  labors;  much  good  was  done  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  I  was,  however,  destined  to  have  some 
trouble,  even  among  very  kind  friends.  While  in  the  chair  of 
the  Quarterly  Conference,  I  was  appealed  to  for  an  opinion  on 
the  proper  course  of  bringing  private,  unofficial  members  of  the 
Church  to  trial.  On  that  occasion  I  read  to  the  brethren  the 
law  of  the  Church  on  that  subject.  It  is  as  follows  :  "  It  shall 
be  the  duty  of  each  leader  in  stations  to  report  to  the  leaders' 
meeting  all  cases  of  transgression  and  disobedience  in  the  mem- 
bers of  his  class  which  he  believes  may  require  the  exercise 
of  discipline.  The  leaders'  meeting  shall  then  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  three,  to  examine  whether  the  case  requires  a  judicial 
process;  and  if  they  find  it  does,  the  chairman  of  said  com- 
mittee shall  have  it  prosecuted  according  to  the  provisions 
of  the  discipline."  This  law,  I  told  the  brethren  of  the  Con- 
ference, contained  the  only  plan  in  our  economy  for  the 
origination  of  the  trial  of  private,  unofficial  members  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  stations.  All  complaints  must 
come  by  the  leader  to  the  leaders'  meeting.  The  leaders' 
meeting  has  in  the  case  no  discretionary  power — "they  shall 
appoint  a  committee  of  three,"  having  grand-jury  powers,  to 
find  a  bill  of  charges,  if  there  be  any,  against  the  accused.  If 
no  bill  is  found,  the  accused  goes  free,  and  there  the  matter 
ends.  But  if  a  bill  is  found,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  is 
lield  as  prosecutor  in  behalf  of  the  Church,  against  the  accused, 
and  all  the  angry  passions  of  the  accuser  are  hereby  shut  out 
from  perplexing  the  trial.  Official  members,  when  accused,  are 
referred  for  trial  to  the  proper  authorities,  by  the  Quarterly 
Conference. 


260  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

This  opinion  was  well  received  by  the  body,  and  we  acted  on 
it  throughout  t"he  year.  But  when  the  President  of  the  Con- 
ference, a  young,  inexperienced  man,  came  to  the  city,  he  held 
the  doctrine,  I  was  told,  that  under  our  economy  every  man  had 
a  right  to  bring  his  own  charges,  without  reference  to  the  leader 
or  leaders'  meeting,  or  the  grand-jury  committee,  and  prosecute 
the  case  himself — thus  superseding  the  Church's  prosecutor. 
In  this  way  a  small  party  was  formed  against  my  administra- 
tion. One  zealous  brother,  signing  himself  "A  Lumber  Mer- 
chant," wrote  against  my  opinion,  in  the  Church  paper  pub- 
lished in  Baltimore.  An  editorial,  by  brother  Shinn,  appeared, 
favoring  the  views  of  this  writer.  I  wrote  a  reply  to  "A  Lum- 
ber Merchant"  and  the  editor,  but  deemed  it  best,  after  all,  not 
to  publish  it,  lest  I  should  stir  up  strife.  Two  of  my  oppo- 
nents were  elected  delegates  to  the  Annual  Conference  in  Madi- 
son, Indiana,  with  instructions  to  bring  me  back  a  second  year 
to  the  Cincinnati  Station.  They  and  I  agreed  to  submit  the 
matter  at  issue  between  us  to  the  Conference,  for  its  judgment 
in  the  case.  After  the  parties  were  heard,  the  Conference,  by 
an  overwhelmiug  majority,  confirmed  my  opinion  as  correct. 
The  two  delegates,  thus  foiled,  were  not  satisfied.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  session,  when  I  was  out  on  the  stationing  com- 
mittee, they  got  the  Conference  to  reconsider  the  matter,  and 
lay  it  on  the  table.  But  that  was  the  last  of  it.  During  my 
second  year  I  heard  no  more  of  their  objections  to  my  opinion 
on  ecclesiastical  law.  When  brother  Shinn,  the  editor  who  had 
favored  their  views,  returned  to  Cincinnati,  and  read  my  un- 
published reply  to  "A  Lumber  Merchant,"  and  to  his  own 
editorial,  he  gave  it  as  his  deliberate  judgment  that  my  opinion, 
given  in  the  Quarterly  Conference,  on  ecclesiastical  law,  was 
right;  and  expressed  his  astonishment  that  he  and  "A  Lumber 
Merchant,"  with  the  law  of  the  Church  in  their  hands,  should 
ever  have  thought  otherwise.  He  did  not  stop  there,  for,  a3 
I  have  been  credibly  informed,  he  carried  my  opinion  of  the 
law  into  practical  efiect,  when  superintendent  of  the  Cincinnati 
Station,  the  following  year. 

During  my  second  year  in  that  city,  we  had  another  glorious 


REVIVAL    IN    CINCINNATI   STATION.  261 

camp-meetIng,  iu  connection  with  tlie  Cincinnati  Circuit.  It 
was  held  on  the  hind  of  Mrs.  Hargrave,  whose  mother  was  at 
that  time  one  hundred  and  six  years  of  age !  She  was  tall, 
straight,  slender,  and  active — walked,  every  day  of  the  meet- 
ing, from  the  house  to  the  camp,  a  distance  of  at  least  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile.  Such  cases  of  activity,  at  such  an  advanced 
period  of  life,  are  very  remtirkable.  This  old  lady  was,  accord- 
ing to  information,  a  very  exemplary  Christian,  and  exceedingly 
fond  of  class-meetings.  In  this  connection,  another  case  of 
longevity,  still  more  remarkable,  may  be  given.  Andrew  Whit- 
tier,  near  Cambridge,  Ohio,  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years  old  when  he  died.  He  lived  a  bachelor  one  hundred 
years,  and  then  married  a  widow,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church.  In  ten  years  she  died,  and  then 
the  old  gentleman  lived  a  widower  fifteen  years.  All  through 
life  he  had  been  temperate  and  industrious,  a  man  of  fine  health 
and  good  moral  character.  Not  long  before  his  death,  he  went 
out  into  the  harvest-field  and  reaped,  bound,  and  shocked  one 
dozen  sheaves  of  wheat,  then  said  his  work  on  earth  was  done. 
He  returned  to  the  house,  took  to  his  bed,  and,  after  lingering 
a  short  time,  passed  away  to  the  eternal  world.  The  disease 
of  which  he  died  was  old  age;  the  clock  of  life  had  sinvply  run 
doion.  This  account  I  had  from  Mr.  Whittier's  neighbors,  and 
have  since  seen  it  in  the  public  papers. 

The  above-mentioned  camp-meeting  was  followed  by  a  gra- 
cious revival  of  religion  in  Cincinnati  Station.  A  goodly  num- 
ber of  sinners  were  converted  and  added  to  the  Church.  As 
we  protracted  the  meeting  night  after  night,  a  case  occurred 
which  gave  me  much  pain.  A  young  gentleman,  apparently  in 
great  earnest  for  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  came  to  the  altar  of 
pi-ayer  every  night,  for  about  one  week.  The  agony  of  his 
mind  was  great;  the  crushing  load  upon  his  panting,  praying 
heart  seemed  to  be  wearing  down  his  health.  The  friends  of 
the  Saviour  took  a  deep  interest  in  his  case ;  but  all  the  prayers 
and  counsels  of  the  people  of  God  seemed  to  avail  nothing  in 
his  behalf.  At  last,  lifting  up  his  head,  he  beckoned  me  to 
him,  and  said,  in   my  ear,  "There   is   a   difficulty  between  my 


262  RECOLLECTIONS   OP  ITINERANT   LIFE. 

brother,  wlio  sits  back  by  the  door,  and  myself.  We  have  not 
spoken  to  each  other  for  three  years,  and  unless  a  reconcilia- 
tion can  be  effected,  I  shall  be  lost.  Will  you  please  bring  him 
to  me?"  I  went  to  the  person  designated,  and  said,  "Your 
brother  at  the  altar  has  sent  me  to  request  you  to  come  to 
him."  In  an  angi-y  tone,  and  with  a  bitter  oath,  that  hard- 
hearted man  repulsed  me,  and  refused  to  go.  Finding  that  no 
entreaties  would  move  him,  I  returned  to  the  altar,  and,  in  the 
mildest  way  I  could,  reported  to  the  penitent  sinner  that  his 
brother  declined  coming.  Upon  hearing  this,  he  arose,  left  the 
house,  went  to  the  river,  and  took  a  boat  for  Louisville.  That 
night  the  boat  was  burned,  and  the  young  man  perished  in  the 
flames.  IIow  sad  my  heart  felt  when  I  heard  of  his  death! 
His  unnatural  brother  treated  him  harshly,  yet  he  desired  a 
reconciliation.  May  it  not  be  that  he  ultimately  found  mercy 
with  the  Lord? 

It  was  in  the  month  of  May  of  this  year  that  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  held  in  Cin- 
cinnati. Rev.  T.  M.  Hudson,  my  brother-in-law,  and  member 
of  the  Conference,  together  with  his  family,  made  their  home 
at  my  house.  At  that  time  the  ill-feelings  which  had  grown 
out  of  the  old  controversy  began  to  abate.  Our  pulpit  was 
occupied  by  the  preachers  of  the  Conference.  Many  of  my  old 
friends  in  the  ministry,  who  were  members  of  that  body,  visited 
me  in  a  very  friendly,  social  manner,  and  partook  with  me,  at 
my  table,  of  the  bounties  of  God's  providence.  Bishops  Rob- 
erts, Hedding,  and  Waugh  all  honored  me  with  a  visit,  ate  at 
my  table,  prayed  in  my  family,  and  prayed  for  my  Church.  All 
this  kindness  of  former  friends  was  like  healing  balm  to  a 
wounded  heart.  Yet  it  made  no  change  in  principle.  Minis- 
terial rule  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  to  me  still 
as  objectionable  as  ever,  and  the  right  of  the  people  to  a  free 
representation  I  still  held  to  be  as  good  in  the  Church  as  it 
was  in  the  State.  But,  in  my  heart,  I  felt  bound  to  love  my 
old  friends,  while  I  believed  them  in  error  on  the  subject  of 
Church  government. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  write  all  my  recollections  of  that  Gen- 


ANECDOTE    OE   SNETHEN   AND   BURKE.  263 

eral  Conference.  The  following  anecdote  concerning  Rev.  N. 
Suethcn  and  Rev.  W.  Burke  is  too  good  to  be  lost.  These 
venerable  brethren  had  once  been  pioneer  laborers  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  but  now  neither  of  them  belonged  to 
it.  They  were  both  large,  fleshy  men,  of  about  the  same  size, 
age,  and  general  appearance;  each  had  on  him  a  venerable  gray 
head,  which  was  indeed  to  him  a  crown  of  glory,  being  found 
in  the  way  of  righteousness.  Though  so  much  alike  in  per- 
sonal appearance,  there  was  a  great  dissimilarity  in  their  voices. 
The  voice  of  Burke  was  coarse,  harsh,  broken,  and  husky.  Sne- 
then's  voice  was  as  clear,  smooth,  and  oily  in  its  tones  as  the 
sound  of  a  silver  trumpet.  These  aged  brethren  were  in  daily 
attendance  on  the  doings  of  the  General  Conference.  One 
morning  they  had  taken  their  seats  together  just  outside  of  the 
bar,  to  hear  Rev.  Orange  Scott  deliver  his  great  abolition  argu- 
ment. Somehow,  they  forgot  themselves,  and  entered  into  con- 
versation about  old  times. 

"Altered  times,"  said  Snethen  to  Burke,  "since  you  and  I 
used  to  go  to  General  Conference;"  and  in  his  clear,  silvery 
tones,  he  added,  "These  brethren  all  look  like  they  were  well 
paid,  well  fed,  and  well  clad;  times  have  very  much  changed." 
"  Then,"  Burke  replied,  in  his  coarse,  harsh,  and  husky  tones, 
"I  recollect,  in  the  early  days  of  Methodism,  that  I  went  one 
day  into  Nashville,  with  a  blanket-coat  on  me,  to  preach  in 
the  market-house.  It  was  not  a  blanket-coat  either:  it  was 
a  blanket  with  a  hole  cut  through  the  middle  of  it,  and  my 
head  poked  through  the  hole,  and  it  was  tied  round  my  mid- 
dle with  a  tow  string.  In  that  kind  of  garb  I  preached  to  the 
people."  Then  Suethen's  silvery  tones  rung  out,  louder  far 
than  he  was  aware  of:  "I  recollect,"  said  he,  "when  I  traveled 
up  North,  on  the  Kennebec  River,  that  I  w^as  clad  in  a  kind 
of  stuiF  like  the  common  Kentucky  jeans.  My  clothes  were  all 
threadbare,  and  my  breeches  were  broken  at  the  knees.  I  had 
not  a  dollar  in  the  world,  and  I  was  in  a  peck  of  trouble. 
Where  or  how  to  get  new  clothes  I  could  not  tell.  I  went 
home  to  my  lodgings,  took  oif  my  clothes,  went  to  bed,  and 
dreamed  that  Iliad  no  breeches  at  all!" 


264  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

All  this  time  tlie  two  old  men  kept  tlieir  lieads  down  behind 
the  back  of  the  seat  iu  front  of  them.  But  this  private  con- 
versation was  generally  heard;  it  arrested  debate.  Orange  Scott 
paused,  turned,  looked,  and  smiled.  The  Bishop  in  the  chair 
looked  and  smiled.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  Sncthen  and 
Burke,  and,  for  a  short  time,  the  Conference  was  very  much 
amused.  Yet  the  two  venerable  men  were  not  aware,  at  the 
time,  that  they  had  given  amusement  to  any  one.  Mr.  Sne- 
then,  who  was  stopping  with  me,  laughed  heartily  when  I  told 
the  company  at  the  dinner-table  what  had  occurred  in  the  Gen- 
eral  Conference  that  day.  He  said  it  was  not  the  first  time  his 
voice  had  betrayed  him. 

I  was  present  in  the  General  Conference  when  that  body 
elected  their  Bishops.  Wilber  Fisk  and  Beverly  Waugh  were 
elected  without  much  difficulty.  But  they  wanted  another. 
John  Davis,  of  the  Baltimore  Conference,  Thomas  A.  Morris, 
of  the  Ohio  Conference,  and  William  Capers,  of  the  South  Car- 
olina Conference,  were  in  nomination.  xVfter  a  number  of  bal- 
lotings  it  became  apparent  that  Capers,  the  Southern  slave- 
holder, was  fast  gaining  ground,  and  that  unless  either  Davis 
or  Morris  were  withdrawn,  he  would  be  elected.  To  elect  a 
slaveholder  to  Episcopal  office  did  not  exactly  suit  the  tastes 
and  principles  of  most  of  the  Northern  members,  so  they  laid 
the  matter  over  until  the  next  day.  That  night  they  held  a 
meeting  to  consider  what  was  to  be  done.  Either  Davis  or  Mor- 
ris must  be  dropped,  so  as  to  concentrate  the  Northern  vote 
wholly  on  one  man,  or  Capers  would  be  elected.  But  the  main 
question  was,  which  of  the  two  should  they  drop?  Each  candi- 
date had  his  warm  friends,  and  those  friends,  on  each  side, 
greatly  desired  the  election  of  their  candidate.  These  brethren 
were  very  much  puzzled;  but,  sooner  than  let  a  slaveholder  be 
elected,  they  mutually  agreed  to  refer  the  matter  to  me.  I  had 
served  in  the  Baltimore  Conference,  of  which  Davis  was  a  mem- 
ber, and  was  well  acquainted  with  him.  I  had  lived  about  two 
years  in  Cincinnati,  the  home  of  Morris,  and  had,  by  informa- 
tion in  relation  to  him,  been  very  favorably  impressed  with  his 
character.     All  this  was  known  to  some  who  were  present  at 


ELECTION   OF   BISHOP   MORRIS.  265 

the  meeting,  and  will  account  for  tlie  desire  of  the  parties  to 
have  my  opinion. 

Before  brfeakfast  the  next  morning,  Rev.  David  Steele,  of  the 
Baltimore  delegation,  an  old  friend  of  mine,  with  two  other 
members  of  the  General  Conference,  came  as  a  deputation  from 
the  meeting,  and  desired  a  private  interview  with  me.  They 
informed  me  of  the  election  of  Fisk  and  Waugh  the  pi'eceding 
day ;  that  the  Southern  members  were  running  Capers ;  that  the 
votes  of  the  delegates  from  the  Northern  Conferences  were  di- 
vided between  Davis  and  Morris,  and  that  unless  they  withdrew 
one  of  their  candidates*  and  concentrated  their  whole  force  on 
the  other.  Capers,  the  slaveholder,  would  certainly  be  elected, 
and  this  would  be  a  calamity  to  the  Church.  They  said  to  me, 
"You  are  not  now  a  minister  in  our  Church;  you  are  not,  there- 
fore, interested  in  this  aifair  as  we  are;  you  are  in  a  favorable 
position  to  give  us  a  candid  oj)iuion  in  this  difficult  matter,  and 
the  parties  have  agreed  that,  as  you  know  both  the  men,  your 
opinion  shall  rule  the  ease.  Our  question  to  you  is,  upon  which 
of  these  two  men  shall  we  concentrate  our  votes  for  the  Epis- 
copal office?"  After  a  little  pleasantry  with  the  brethren  about 
their  calling  on  a  radical  to  help  them  make  a  Bishop,  and  the 
third  ordination  which  they  gave  their  Bishops,  etc.,  I  told 
them,  in  all  sober  seriousness,  that,  as  the  matter  was  referred 
to  me,  I  must  advise  them  to  elect  Morris  in  preference  to 
Davis;  and  I  then  gave  the  reasons  on  which  my  preference 
was  founded.  This  done,  the  brethren  left  me.  After  break- 
fast, I  went  over  to  the  Conference  in  time 'to  witness  the  elec- 
tion. Davis  was,  in  the  main,  dropped  from  the  vote,  and  Mor- 
ris was  elected  by  a  very  handsome  majority  over  Capers.  After 
this  statement  of  facts,  I  leave  mankind  to  judge  whether  I  did 
not,  since  my  connection  with  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
go  a  little  beyond  the  lines,  to  help  make  a  Bishop  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Bishop  Morris  and  I  reside  in  the  same  city,  and  he  occa- 
sionally preaches  for  our  people.     I  regard  him  as  an  amiable, 

*If,  as  I  have  since  learned,  Dr.  Euter  was  a  candiJate,  I  was  not  so  informed  by  the 
bretkren  who  waited  on  me. 

17 


266  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

liberal-minded  Christian  gentleman,  and  a  good  minister  of 
Jesus  Christ.  If  my  advice  to  the  deputation  sent  to  me  did 
turn  the  election  in  ftxvor  of  Bishop  Morris,  then-  I  think  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  owes  me  a  debt  of  gratitude,  for 
he  has  been  to  them  a  very  valuable  presiding  officer.  In  any 
event,  the  whole  case  goes  to  show  that  my  judgment  was 
deemed  worthy  of  regard,  in  a  difficult  case,  by  men  who  once 
presented  the  boldest  front  of  opposition  against  me,  on  account 
of  my  lay  delegation  principles  and  actions.  Time  brings  its 
changes. 

My  second  year  closed.  The  Conference  was  held  in  Cin- 
cinnati, September,  183(>.  For  many  reasons,  I  considered  it 
my  duty  to  take  a  transfer  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference.  My 
main  reason  was  founded  in  a  conviction  of  duty  to  my  mother, 
now  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  her  age.  I  was  her  youngest 
son,  and  she  wanted  me  near  her  in  the  decline  of  life;  so  I 
went,  but  she  had  passed  calmly  away  to  her  heavenly  home 
before  I  got  to  see  her.  Her  death  brought  a  sense  of  loneli- 
ness over  me  that  I  had  never  experienced  before.  Now  I  had 
neither  father  nor  mother,  and  felt  my  orphanage  to  the  full. 
But  they  both  lived  the  life  and  died  the  death  of  the  right- 
eous. If  faithful  until  death,  I  shall  see  them  again,  where  siu 
and  sorrow,  pain  and  death  are  felt  and  feared  no  more. 


TRANSFERRED    TO    THE   PITTSBURGH    CONFERENCE.       267 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Teansferred  to  the  Pittsburgh  CoNrEBENCE— Eemoval  to  Alleghany— Kemarkablb 
Dream— Lorenzo  Dow  and  General  Jackson— An  Arbitrary  Sexton— Second  Gen- 
eral Conference— Debate  on  Slavery— Liberty  op  the  Press- Meeting  of  Pitts- 
burgh Conference- Kemoval  to  Holliday's  Cove,  Virginia. 

After  the  Oliio  Conference  had  been  in  session  about  three 
days,  I  left,  in  company  with  brother  Shinn  and  his  lady,  for 
the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  which  was  to  meet  the  week  follow- 
ing in  Pittsburgh.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  sunder  the  ties 
•which  bound  me  to  the  Ohio  Conference.  Nor  was  it  any 
trifle  to  go  by  a  small  boat,  in  hot  weather  and  in  time  of  low 
water,  from  Cincinnati  to  the  Iron  City.  Through  much  trib- 
ulation, we  reached  the  Conference  on  the  second  day  of  the 
session,  and  had  a  joyful  meeting  with  old  friends  whom  I  had 
not  seen  for  several  years.  The  river  trip  had  hurt  my  health, 
yet  I  was  immediately  assigned  to  duty  on  the  Stationing  Com- 
mittee, and  suffered  much  in  the  performance  of  the  labors  en- 
joined upon  me.  In  this  Conference  some  unpleasant  occur- 
rences gave  me  a  good  deal  of  pain.  Sore,  cutting,  thrusting 
contests  between  preachers  have  always  been  painful  to  me. 
Some  preachers  are  strong — uot  in  faith,  like  Abraham,  giving 
glory  to  God — but  strong  in  bitter  feeling,  to  worry  one  an- 
other in  Conference.  This  savors  more  of  hell  than  heaven, 
and  argues  an  utter  want  of  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ. 
However,  matters  were  ultimately  adjusted  among  the  brethren, 
and  they  all,  at  the  close  of  the  Conference,  took  their  appoint- 
ments and  went  to  their  work  for  another  year.  I  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Alleghany  Station.  This  was  gratifying  to  me, 
as  I  found  it  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  peo- 
ple  committed   to  my   pastoral   care.     I   entered   immediately 


268  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

■upon  the  duties  of  my  charge,  but  sickness  in  my  family  de- 
layed tlieir  removal,  and  I  had  to  return  to  Cincinnati,  and 
remain  there  about  one  month,  before  it  was  deemed  practica- 
ble and  safe  for  them  to  accompany  me  to  Alleghany.  This 
was  effected  early  in  November,  and  then,  with  all  my  might,  I 
went  into  my  ministerial  and  pastoral  labors.  I  did  my  best 
in  pulpit  preparations,  and  with  all  my  soul  did  I  strive  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  I  went  through  the  whole  Church 
in  a  course  of  pastoral  visitations.  My  congregations  were 
large  and  attentive,  but  uncommonly  dull  and  formal ;  but  few 
of  the  signs  of  spiritual  life  were  to  be  found  among  them,  and 
so  they  continued  until  the  early  part  of  the  winter.  This 
state  of  things  gave  me  great  concern  of  mind.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  my  Gospel  mission  had  about  run  out.  I  preached 
religion  from  the  pulpit ;  I  talked  and  prayed  religion  in  all 
the  families  of  the  Church,  and  I  tried  to  practice  it  in  my 
life ;  yet  in  all  places  religion  was  undermost  and  the  world 
uppermost — all  was  cold  and  formal.  What  could  be  the  mat- 
ter? Was  this  a  rebuke  to  me  for  past  unfaithfulness?  or  was 
it  for  leaving  the  Ohio  Conference?  To  me  this  was  a  dark 
day  of  trial,  a  time  of  great  mental  anguish.  The  Church 
had  made  the  best  provision  for  my  temporal  subsistence 
that  had  ever  been  made  since  my  entrance  into  the  minis- 
try, and  yet  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  doing  them  no  spir- 
itual good. 

One  evening,  at  leaders'  meeting,  in  a  free  and  full  conversa- 
tion with  that  official  body  on  the  state  of  the  Church,  I  dis- 
closed to  the  brethren,  as  fully  as  I  could,  all  the  sorrows  of 
my  heart — that  to  live  and  labor  among  them,  to  be  comfort- 
ably supported  by  them,  and  to  do  them  no  spiritual  good,  was 
painful,  in  the  extreme,  to  my  feelings.  What  shall  we  do? 
What  can  we  do  to  change  the  existing  state  of  things  in  the 
Church  for  the  better?  These  brethren  seemed  to  enter,  to 
some  extent,  into  sympathy  with  me,  bade  me  to  be  encouraged, 
and  said  a  better  day  was  coming.  We  then  prayed  together 
for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  returned  to  our 
homes.     That  night  I  had  a  remarkable  dream.     In  general,  I 


REMARKABLE   DREAM.  269 

put  no  coufidcnce  ia  dreams,  but  in  tliis  one  I  did,  for  it 
changed  the  whole  current  of  my  feelings,  and  filled  my  soul 
with  buoyant  hope.  I  dreamed  that  I  was  at  a  splendid  feast. 
Every  thing  in  the  room  was  in  the  finest  order,  and'  it  was 
most  brilliantly  illuminated.  The  guests  were  patriarchs,  proph- 
ets, and  apostles — all  arrayed  in  white.  At  the  head  of  the 
table  sat  the  Saviour  himself,  in  mild  and  heavenly  dignity. 
The  table  was  long,  the  company  large,  and  there  was  but  one 
between  me  and  the  corner,  at  the  far  end,  on  the  left-hand 
side.  In  sucli  an  assembly,  a  sense  of  littleness  and  unworthi- 
ness  came  over  my  soul,  and  I  felt  amazed  that  I  was  permitted 
to  be  there.  All  eyes  were  turned  toward  the  Saviour,  who 
graciously  cast  a  benignant  look  on  the  whole  assembly,  and 
fiuall}^  fixed  his  eyes  on  me.  It  was  a  look  of  tenderness,  and 
seemed  to  indicate  that  he  knew  the  state  of  my  heart.  Be- 
fore blessing  the  food,  he  arose,  came  to  me,  and  took  me  to  a 
private  interview.  He  said,  "  I  have  witnessed  all  your  trials, 
and  the  sorrows  of  your  heart :  be  encouraged ;  preach  the  pure 
Gospel  faithfully — I  will  be  with  you  and  give  you  success." 
As  he  turned  to  resume  his  place  at  the  table,  my  soul  followed 
hard  after  him,  and  was  well-nigh  drawn  out  of  me  in  desire  to 
be  with  him.  Being  greatly  excited,  I  awoke ;  the  feast  had 
vanished  from  my  sight,  but  on  my  mind  a  favorable  impres- 
sion remained.  The  very  next  time  I  went  to  the  pulpit,  on 
the  Sabbath-day,  a  glorious  revival  of  religion  commenced,  and 
continued  all  through  the  winter,  and  the  Church  was  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  additions  to  her  membership  a^id  her  own 
higher  attainments  in  the  Divine  life. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year,  a  crash  came  in  the  financial 
interests  of  the  country.  President  Jackson  had  removed  the 
deposits,  then,  after  some  time,  issued  his  specie  circular.  As  a 
defense  against  these  governmental  acts,  the  State  banks,  gen- 
erally, suspended  specie  payment,  and  the  distress  throughout 
the  country  was  very  great.  Most  of  the  manufocturiug  estab- 
lishments about  Pittsburgh  and  Alleghany  suspended  opera- 
tion, and  the  hands  employed  in  them  were  thrown  out  of  work. 
This  had  a  serious  effect  on  the  Church  under  my  pastoral  care. 


270  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

I  gave  about  sixty  certificates  in  one  montli  to  members  of  my 
charge — mostly  young  converts — who  removed  into  the  country 
to  find  employment  and  the  means  of  living.  This  state  of 
things  gave  me  great  concern.  Any  action  of  the  Government 
producing  financial  distress  in  time  of  peace,  equal  to  that  ex- 
perienced in  time  of  war,  must  be  wrong,  and  no  political  logic 
under  heaven  can  justify  it  in  the  court  of  sound  morality. 
When  President  Jackson  broke  down  the  old  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  Lorenzo  Dow,  then  confined  to  bed  by  his  last 
illness,  in  Georgetown,  D.  C. — as  I  was  informed  by  Rev.  W. 
C.  Lipscomb,  of  that  city — arose  from  his  couch,  girded  on  his 
mantle,  went  to  the  White  House,  and  stood  before  General 
Jackson,  like  the  prophet  Elijah  before  Ahab,  and  reproved 
him,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  for  the  injury  he  had  done  to 
the  country.  Dow  had  often  been  entertained  by  the  General 
at  the  Hermitage  in  Tennessee,  and  had  always  agreed  with 
him  in  politics;  but  now  he  thought  him  wrong,  and  having 
gathered  up  all  the  remaining  energies  of  life,  he  stood  before 
Jackson,  leaning  on  his  staff,  as  a  reprover.  The  General,  see- 
ing how  feeble  he  was,  and  remembering  their  former  friend- 
ship, desired  him  to  be  seated  and  have  a  little  refreshment. 
But  the  stern  old  prophet  said,  "No,  he  would  neither  sit  down 
nor  eat  bread  in  his  house."  So,  turning  to  his  carriage,  he 
went  to  his  room,  and  in  a  few  days  he  died.  This  last  act  of 
Lorenzo's  life  had  in  it  a  real  moral  grandeur,  and  was  cer- 
tainly the  work  of  a  fearless,  honest-minded  man. 

In  addition  to  the  preaching  due  my  people  in  the  Alleghany 
Station,  I  did  much  ministerial  labor  in  various  localities  be- 
yond the  bounds  of  my  charge,  in  view  of  establishing  our 
cause.  No  matter  how  good  a  cause  may  be,  living  agencies 
are  necessary  to  its  establishment.  Christianity  itself  required 
living,  active  agents  to  plant  it  in  all  the  world.  Nor  have  I 
ever  dreamed  that  our  ecclesiastical  j^rinciples,  however  good, 
could  establish  themselves.  Our  preachers  who  have  full  faith 
in  our  views  of  Christian  doctrine  and  principles  of  ecclesias- 
tical government  must,  by  laborious  diligence,  carry  them  out 
into  practical  operation  among  the  people.     Where  this  is  not 


AN   AEBITRARY   SEXTON.  271 

done,  our  cause  does  not  extend,  nor  does  Christianity  in  any 
form.  A  conviction  of  this  truth  led  me  to  perform  much  out- 
side labor  during  my  term  of  service  in  Alleghany  Station. 

My  pastoral  duties,  too,  were  very  onerous.  A  membership, 
spread  over  so  mvich  space,  to  be  visited  once  a  quarter — all 
the  sick  much  oftener — and  so  many  funerals  to  attend,  did 
not  leave  me  a  great  deal  of  time  for  rest  or  study.  Yet,  by 
carefully  adhering,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  my  old  plan  of 
forenoon  study  and  afternoon  visiting,  I  kept  up  all  my  woi'k. 
The  people  of  my  charge  worked  with  me  well,  in  the  revival 
already  mentioned ;  indeed,  they  had  become  religiously  in 
earnest  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  a  better  band  of  laborers 
among  penitents  at  the  altar  was  rarely  to  be  found.  It  did 
my  heart  good  to  witness  the  whole-hearted  energy  of  my  dear 
old  friends  Rev.  C.  Avery,  E.  W.  Stephens — men  of  wealth — 
and  Henry  Williams,  Gr.  Kurtz,  and  many  others,  in  the  hum- 
bler walks  of  life,  together  with  the  ladies  of  the  Church — all 
baptized  into  the  spirit  of  this  revival.  Around  the  altar  of 
the  Lord  the  rich  and  the  poor  met  together  in  one  common 
cause,  and  upon  our  united  labors  the  blessing  of  the  Most 
High  came  down  abundantly. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  say  something  of  our  sexton,  as 
we  pass  along.  To  look  at  human  nature  in  every  phase  might 
be  instructive.  A  little  brief  authority  will  spoil  some  men. 
To  put  some  sinners  into  office  is  to  place  them  beyond  the 
reach  and  force  of  Gospel  truth.  To  put  some  professors  of 
religion  into  office  is  to  fill  them  with  pride,  and  render  them 
an  intolerable  nuisance  to  the  Church.  Our  sexton  had  once 
been  a  very  intemperate  man ;  but,  on  his  making  a  profession 
of  religion  and  joining  the  Church,  so  orderly  was  his  life,  and 
such  were  the  evidences  of  his  piety,  that  he  gained  the  confi- 
dence of  his  brethren  generally,  and  might  have  lived  and  died 
a  good  Christian,  if  he  had  never  been  taken  from  the  ranks 
and  put  into  office.  By  some  hap,  W.  G.  was  appointed  sexton 
of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  Alleghany,  and  in  a  short 
time  he  began  to  assume  airs  of  great  self-importance.  The 
office  made  him  feel  large,  and  his  actions  became  insufierably 


272  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

insolent.  No  advice  would  lie  take ;  all  remonstrances  were  dis- 
regarded. At  precisely  nine  o'clock  at  night,  during  the  revival, 
he  would  call  out :  "  It  is  time  to  close  the  meeting,  and  for  all 
honest  people  to  be  at  home."  Then,  without  waiting  for  the 
congregation  to  retire,  or  the  penitents  to  be  taken  from  the 
altar,  he  would  extinguish  the  lights,  leaving  us  all  in  the  dark. 
Several  times  we  had  to  light  up  again,  it  being  inconvenient  to 
move  out  at  a  moment's  warning.  Our  remonstrances  against 
such  arbitrary  and  ill-advised  conduct  were  again  and  again 
repeated,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Our  sexton  grew  worse  and 
worse,  alleging  that  the  meeting-house  and  all  who  came  into 
it  were  under  his  control,  and  that  he  had  the  right  to  close 
the  meeting  when  he  pleased.  When  nothing  else  would  do, 
this  man's  office  was  taken  from  him  and  given  to  another. 
This  so  enraged  him,  that  we  had  to  turn  him  adrift  by  an  ab- 
solute expulsion  from  the  Church.  When  he  became  cool,  he 
lowered  sails,  and,  to  appearance,  became  very  humble,  but  in 
my  day  it  was  deemed  advisable  not  to  receive  him  again  into 
the  Church.  This  man's  case  is  the  case  of  thovisands.  From 
the  bottom  to  the  top  of  society,  a  weak-minded  man  is  pretty 
certain  to  be  spoiled  by  office,  especially  in  the  Church  of 
Christ.  Paul  says  of  a  Christian  bishop,  that  he  must  "not 
be  a  novice,  lest,  being  lifted  up  with  pride,  he  fall  into  the 
condemnation  of  the  devil."  So,  it  appears  that  an  angel  of 
light,  through  pride,  from  the  height  of  his  position  fell,  and 
was  turned  into  a  devil,  and  that  "novices"  in  ecclesiastical 
offices  are  very  apt  to  follow  the  example  of  that  apostate 
angel.  In  relation  to  this  matter,  the  Churches  can  not  be  too 
careful.  The  advice  given  by  Paul  to  Timothy,  concerning  or- 
daining men  to  the  Christian  ministry,  is  valuable,  even  to  the 
appointment  of  a  sexton :  "  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man  ;"  put 
no  man  into  any  responsible  position  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
until  his  character  is  well  understood  to  be  every  way  trust- 
worthy. 

In  September,  1837,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in 
Wheeling.  At  that  time  the  Methodi-st  Protestant  Church  in 
that  place  was  in  a  prosperous  condition,  and  the  Conference 


SECOND    GENERAL    CONFERENCE.  273 

•was  well  entertained,  and  made  a  favorable  impression  on  the 
community.  I  was  reappointed  to  the  Alleghany  Station.  As 
the  distress  in  financial  matters  still  remained,  and  was  rather 
growing  worse  every  day,  my  success  in  building  up  the  Church 
was  not  very  great.  So  many  removed,  to  hunt  business  and 
find  the  means  of  living  in  other  places,  that  our  increase  was 
hardly  equal  to  our  losses.  A  time  of  financial  distress  brings 
out  the  faultiness  of  character  among  professors  of  religion,  in 
a  manner  not  to  be  conceived  of  in  a  time  of  prosperity.  Some 
were  really  not  able  to  pay  their  honest  debts  during  the  press- 
ure, and  there  were  others  who  did  not  appear  to  want  to  pay 
them.  Against  this  latter  class  there  were  many  complaints, 
and  in  adjusting  matters  in  which  their  integrity  was  implicated 
I  had  no  little  trouble.  Yet  the  great  body  of  the  member- 
ship were  of  a  reliable  character,  and  struggled  hard  to  main- 
tain the  honor  and  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  Church. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1838,  our  second  General  Conference 
was  held  in  Pittsburgh,  and  there  was  a  pretty  full  representa- 
tion from  all  the  Conferences,  North  and  South,  in  attendance. 
Of  that  body  I  was  a  member,  and  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  the  slavery  question.  The  other  members  of  the 
committee  were  from  the  following  Conferences  :  Rev.  R.  B. 
Thompson  from  Virginia,  W.  Disney  from  Ohio,  N.  Green  from 
Champlain,  and  W.  S.  Stockton  from  ,  formerly  the  vet- 
eran editor  of  the  old  Wesleyan  Repository.  Stockton,  Green, 
and  I,  being  a  majority,  brought  in  a  report  against  slavery,  as 
being  inconsistent  with  the  morality  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Brothers  Thompson  and  Disney  made  a  minority  report.  The 
slavery  question  was  then  ably  discussed  for  about  three  days. 
Finally,  the  whole  matter  was  referred  back  to  our  people,  in 
their  primary  assemblies,  for  instruction  as  to  how  it  should  be 
disposed  of  at  the  next  General  Conference.  This  was  done  on 
Saturday  afternoon.  That  night  we  had  a  session,  in  view  of 
acting  on  the  report  of  the  committee  on  the  Church  paper. 
That  report  being  read.  Dr.  Armstrong,  of  Tennessee,  offered 
a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  all  matter  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  be  excluded  from  its  columns.     Then  followed,  on  Arm- 


274  RECOLLECTIONS    OP   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

strong's  resolution,  one  of  the  most  excoriating  discussions,  be- 
tween the  members  North  and  South,  that  I  ever  remember  to 
have  heard  in  any  deliberative  body,  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
Judge  Hoskins,  of  Ohio,  did  battle  for  the  South,  and  was 
most  provokingly  severe  on  brother  Shinn's  argument  in  favor 
of  the  liberty  of  the  press.  Several  of  the  Southern  members 
followed  in  the  same  pro-slavery  strain — all  exceedingly  bitter 
against  modern  Abolitionism.  Sliinn  then  replied  to  the  whole, 
in  a  speech  of  great  logical,  sarcastical,  and  ironical  power. 
He  gave  a  showing-up  of  the  Southern  manner  of  bullying  and 
blustering  our  Northern  statesmen  in  Congress,  on  the  slave 
question;  "but,"  said  he,  "for  one,  I  am  determined  that  South- 
ern blusterers,  with  all  their  Northern  satellites,  shall  meet  with 
a  manful  resistance  in  the  General  Conference,  in  their  attempt 
to  break  down  the  liberty  of  the  press,  in  order  to  cover  up 
the  horrid  crime  of  slavery." 

All  this  time  the  discussion  had  proceeded  by  mistake,  on 
the  supposition  that  the  General  Conference  had  full  power  over 
the  question  at  issue.  I  made  several  attempts  to  get  the  floor, 
to  show  that  the  freedom  of  the  press  was  secured  to  the  Church 
by  the  Constitution,  but  failed  to  get  a  hearing.  Brother 
Springer  finally  moved  an  indefinite  postponement  of  the  whole 
matter  before  the  Conference,  believing,  as  he  said,  from  the 
temper  of  the  body,  that  we  could  not  come  to  an  agreement 
so  as  to  have  any  Church  paper  at  all,  and  he  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  Church  papers  could  be  best  managed  by  the  An- 
nual Conferences.  I  then  got  the  floor,  but  the  friends  of 
Springer's  motion  called  the  previous  question  on  me,  and  I 
took  my  seat.  At  that  juncture,  brothers  Kesley  and  Brown, 
of  Maryland,  kindly  interposed  in  my  behalf,  and  got  me  a 
hearing,  on  the  ground  that  I  had  made  several  attempts  to 
speak,  but  some  one  else  always  got  the  foreway.  They  desired 
to  hear  me,  and  hoped,  as  I  had  the  book  of  the  law  in  my 
hand,  I  could  east  some  light  on  the  subject  then  before  the 
Conference. 

I  then  proceeded  to  say:  "As  a  citizen  of  this  nation,  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  the  charter  of  my  rights 


LIBERTY    OF    THE    PRESS.  275 

and  privileges.  As  a  citizen  of  the  Keystone  State,  fhe  con- 
stitution of  Pennsylvania  is  the  guarantee  of  my  rights  and  im- 
munities. As  a  Christian,  the  New  Testament  is  the  book  under 
which  I  hold  my  claims  to  rights  and  privileges.  But,  as  a 
Methodist  Protestant,  the  constitution  of  our  Church  is  the 
charter  of  my  rights,  and  the  rights  of  all  here  assembled. 
This  constitution,  made  in  1830,  by  a  convention  of  the  whole 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  is  of  binding  force  on  this  Gen- 
eral Conference.  We  are  not  here  to  nullify  or  amend  it,  but 
to  obey  it  in  all  our  ecclesiastical  legislation.  Our  Church  con- 
stitution, which  I  will  now  read,  plainly  says,  (Article  X,  Item 
III,)  '  No  rule  shall  be  passed  infringing  the  liberty  of  speech 
or  of  the  press,  but  for  every  abuse  of  liberty  the  offender  shall 
be  dealt  with  as  in  other  cases  of  indulging  in  sinful  words  and 
tempers.'  This,  certainly,  settles  the  question.  The  press  with 
us  is  constitutionally  free,  and  this  body  has  no  power  to  make 
it  otherwise." 

Dr.  Armstrong  then  asked  me  what  I  understood  to  be  the 
freedom  of  the  press  in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church.  To 
this  question  I  immediately  replied,  that,  in  order  for  our  press 
to  be  free,  at  least  all  official  documents  must  be  published,  and 
that  to  reject  them  would  be  an  infringement  of  the  liberty  of 
the  press.  As  to  private  communications  written  by  individ- 
uals, over  these  the  editor  must  have  discretionary  control,  and 
he  would,  in  many  instances,  deserve  as  much  credit  for  what 
he  left  out  as  for  what  he  published.  As  no  one  objected  to 
this  view  of  the  freedom  of  our  press,  I  said  if  Springer  and 
Armstrong  would  withdraw  their  motions,  I  had  one  to  make. 
These  brethren  complied.  I  then  called  for  the  reading  of  the 
first  section  of  the  law,  then  in  order,  regulating  the  publica- 
tion of  our  Church  paper.  When  it  was  read,  I  moved  its 
adoption;  the  vote  was  unanimous  for  adoption.  I  then  called 
for  the  second  section :  when  it  was  read,  I  moved  its  adoption, 
and  the  vote  in  its  favor  was  unanimous,  and  so  on  until  every 
section  in  the  law  was  adopted.*     I  then  moved  the  adoption 

*  In  this  place,  the  published  minutes,  owing  to  the  great  excitement,  are  very  de- 
fective in  the  statement  of  facta. 


276  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

of  tlie  law  as  a  whole,  and  the  vote  was  again  unanimous. 
Here,  then,  in  this  free  country,  under  the  free  constitution  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  General  Conference  assem- 
bled, we  all  agreed  to  have  a  fi'ee  Church  paper.  When  all 
was  over,  and  I  had  resumed  my  seat,  the  whole  Conference 
gave  indications  of  joy  at  the  favorable  termination  of  this 
stormy  debate.  Those  who  had  indulged  in  harsh  expressions 
against  their  opponents  recalled  them,  and  asked  forgiveness, 
which  in  every  instance  was  cordially  granted.  Then  followed 
a  general  shaking  of  hands  and  a  great  deal  of  mirth.  About 
eleven  o'clock  at  night  we  adjourned  and  went  to  our  homes, 
all  in  a  very  pleasant  state  of  mind.  My  own  feelings  were 
cheerful,  too ;  God  had  helped  me  to  assist  the  brethren  in  the 
dark  hour  of  trial,  and  I  was  contented  and  happy.  Especially 
was  I  happy,  because  the  freedom  of  the  press  had  triumphed. 
Gn  the  next  Monday  morning,  Rev.  T.  H.  Stockton  was 
elected  editor  of  our  free  Church  paper.  Our  Church  constitu- 
tion made  it  free,  and  the  whole  General  Conference  had,  in  the 
foregoing  way,  declared  it  should  be  free.  In  view,  therefore, 
of  the  premises,  brother  Stockton  went  on  to  Baltimore,  to  enter 
upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  on  his  arrival  had  the  deep 
mortification  to  find  that,  on  the  slave  question,  the  Book  Com- 
mittee, right  in  the  teeth  of  the  constitution,  and  over  the  ac- 
tion of  the  General  Conference,  had  gagged  our  Church  paper! 
This  was  a  daring  act  of  usurpation,  and  the  names  of  that 
famous  Book  Committee  must  be  given  to  my  readers.  They  are 
the  following:  James  B.  Williams,  Samuel  K.  Jennings,  John 
Chappell,  John  Clark,  Dr.  F,  Waters,  L.  J.  Cox,  Philip  Chappell, 
Beale  H.  Richardson,  and  the  stationed  preachers  of  Baltimore. 
These  are  names  of  renown  in  our  history;  but,  in  bowing  to  the 
genius  of  slavery,  they  tarnished  their  former  glory.  Brother 
Stockton,  with  all  the  Christian  and  American  manhood  in  him, 
declined  the  editorial  chair,  and  refused  to  have  any  official 
connection  with  a  muzzled  press.  Rev.  E.  Y.  Reese  was  then 
appointed  editor,  by  the  Book  Committee,  and  filled  his  position 
with  fine  ability.  But,  alas  for  him  and  for  us  all !  in  a  free 
country,  and  in   a  free  Church,  he  edited  a   gagged  paper !  a 


MEETIXG   OF   PITTSBURGH   CONFEREXCE.  277 

thing  much,  abhorred  in  the  North,  and  intended  to  shield 
slavery.  To  meet  the  demand  for  a  free  press  in  the  North 
and  West,  and  to  open  the  way  for  free  discussion  of  all  moral 
questions,  the  Western  Recorder  was  originated  that  same  year, 
with  Rev.  C.  Springer  for  editor.  But  that,  being  an  individual 
enterprise,  did  not  wholly  satisfy  our  people.  Our  only  official 
paper  sat  there  in  Baltimore  with  a  gag  in  its  mouth,  and  they 
were  disgraced.  Great  numbers  of  them  went  to  other  Churches. 
In  September,  1838,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in 
New  Lancaster,  Ohio,  where  we  had,  at  that  time,  a  prosperous 
Church.  The  Conference  was  handsomely  entertained  by  the 
community,  and  seemed  to  make  a  good  impression.  But,  from 
■Bome  cause,  not  known  to  me,  our  Church  in  that  place  had 
been  on  the  decline.  It  was  a  time  of  suspicion  as  to  the  in- 
tegrity of  some  of  our  preachers.  Rev.  W.  W.  Arnett,  ap- 
pointed by  our  last  Conference  to  Steubenville,  had,  while  in  our 
employ,  gone  through  a  course  of  study  with  Rev.  D.  Morse, 
in  view  of  connecting  himself  with  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  at  the  close  of  the  year.  Now,  it  was  believed  that  his 
father-in-law,  Rev.  E.  S.  Woodward,  who  had  been  stationed  in 
New  Lancaster  the  preceding  year,  was  about  to  take  the  same 
course,  and  that  no  minister  would  build  up  a  denomination 
which  he  was  preparing  to  leave,  and  that  it  was  not  morally 
honest  to  make  our  Church  a  mere  boarding-house,  where  a 
man  might  eat,  and  sleep  and  live  at  our  expense,  while  making 
ready  to  renounce  our  form  of  ordination  and  take  work  else- 
where. To  meet  this  case  fairly — and  others  of  a  like  kind,  if 
there  should  be  any — a  new  question  was,  by  direction  of  the 
Conference,  added  to  the  list  of  those  propounded  to  the 
preachers.  It  was,  in  substance,  as  follows:  "If  you  receive 
an  appointment  from  this  Conference,  is  it  now  your  intention 
to  devote  your  whole  time  and  talents  to  the  performance  of  the 
work  assigned  you,  faithfully,  to  the  end  of  the  year?"*  Mr. 
Woodward  answered  this  question,  when  his  character  was  un- 
der examination  before  the  Conference,  very  distinctly,  in   the 

*  Bev.  Z.  Eagan  moved  the  addition  of  tliis  question. 


278  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

affirmative.  He  was  then  reappointed  to  New  Lancaster,  on  the 
faith  reposed  in  the  honesty  of  his  answer.  But,  in  a  short 
time,  he  passed  away  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  hav- 
ing first  made  an  eifort,  as  I  was  informed,  to  take  our  little 
membership  in  that  plac.e  along  with  him. 

At  this  Conference  I  was  appointed  to  the  Ohio  Circuit.  In- 
stead of  occupying  the  parsonage  at  Eldersville,  by  consent  of 
the  brethren,  I  situated  my  family  in  Holliday's  Cove,  among 
my  relations,  near  the  place  where  I  had  spent  the  first  eight 
years  of  my  life;  near  where  the  old  school-house  once  stood 
in  which,  from  my  fifth  to  my  eighth  year,  I  had  acquired  some 
of  the  rudiments  of  learning;  and  nearer  still  to  the  old  stone 
school-house,  yet  standing,  where,  on  my  approach  to  manhood, 
I  had  spent  nearly  two  years  in  an  eflbrt  to  carry  forward  my 
education.  Though  forty-six  years  of  age,  still  around  the 
scenes  of  my  childhood  there  was  an  indescribable  charm. 
Even  down  to  over  three-score  years  and  twelve,  I  look  back 
with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to  the  place  where  my  race  in  life 
commenced.  0,  the  happy  days  of  childhood  and  youth !  no 
more  to  return  on  earth;  but  I  look  forward  to  all  the  glory  of 
eternal  youth  in  heaven.     My  hope  is  full. 

Rev.  AV.  Ross  was  stationed  in  Washington.  He  and  his 
people  desired  to  be  united  to  my  circuit.  The  union  was 
formed ;  so  Ross  and  I  traveled  together  that  year,  and  I  found 
that  pious,  talented  young  man  to  be  all  I  could  desire  in  a 
colleague.  This  was,  in  many  respects,  one  of  the  most  pleasant 
years  of  my  ministerial  life.  I  was,  truly,  among  kind  people, 
had  a  noble-hearted  fellow-laborer,  and  at  most  of  the  appoint- 
ments Grod  gave  us  success  in  our  work.  My  support  was  in- 
adequate, but  this  was  no  new  thing  for  me.  The  disciplinary 
allowance  was  too  small,  and  the  financial  regulations  of  the 
Church  were  to  blame  for  this,  rather  than  the  people. 

One  very  cold  Sunday,  after  preaching,  at  eleven  o'clock  A. 
M.,  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  I  had  to  ride  eleven  miles  to 
preach  at  night  in  West  Middletown.  The  intense  cold,  made 
more  severe  by  a  strong  wind  meeting  me  in  the  face  all  the 
way,  against  which  my  cloak  was  but  a  poor  protection,  did  me 


REVIVAL    IN    STEUBENVILLE.  279 

a  very  serious  injury.  About  midway,  I  took  the  cramp  in 
my  legs  and  feet.  To  remedy  this,  I  dismounted  from  my 
horse.  At  first  I  could  scarcely  stand  or  walk,  but  finally  got 
relief,  and  walked  about  a  mile.  I  then  took  to  my  horse  again, 
but  did  not  ride  far  before  the  cramp  seized  me  with  greater 
violence  than  ever.  After  enduring  it  for  a  short  time,  and 
feeling  that  life  itself  was  in  danger,  I  once  more  dismounted. 
To  stand  or  walk  had  now  become  more  difiicult  than  before. 
But,  by  great  efibrts,  such  as  a  man  will  make  for  his  life,  I  got 
my  blood  a  little  into  circulation,  the  cramp  relaxed  its  terrible 
grip,  and  I  walked  about  another  mile.  Then  I  returned  to 
my  horse  again,  and  in  a  short  time  the  cramp  seized  my  whole 
frame,  and  held  me  firmly  as  in  a  vise.  I  would  have  stopped, 
but  there  was  no  house  near  the  road.  To  dismount  I  regarded 
as  dangerous,  as  I  might  neither  be  able  to  walk  nor  return  to 
my  horse;  so  I  remained  in  my  saddle,  enduring  all  the  pain 
the  cramp  could  inflict,  for  the  last  three  miles.  When  I 
reached  West  Middletown,  Judge  McKeever  and  his  sons  came 
out,  and,  on  learning  my  condition,  carried  me  into  the  house. 
Here,  from  the  Judge  and  his  family,  I  received  every  kind 
attention  that  my  case  required.  The  cramp  left  me,  and,  after 
some  refreshment,  I  went  to  the  meeting-house  and  filled  my 
appointment.  But  the  next  day,  on  my  way  home,  a  fever  set 
in,  and  I  had  a  sore  spell  of  sickness.  By  the  time  I  got  out 
to  my  work  again,  kind  friends  had  furnished  me  with  a  first- 
rate,  warm  overcoat,  to  protect  me  against  the  chilling  blasts  of 
winter  in  future. 

During  this  year,  under  the  administration  of  Kev.  John 
Burns,  there  was  in  Steubenville  a  glorious  revival  of  religion. 
Many  of  my  old  friends,  and  some  of  my  relations,  embraced 
religion  and  united  with  the  Church.  All  my  spare  time  was, 
by  request  of  brother  Burns  and  his  people,  spent  in  that 
work.  Sometimes  he  supplied  my  place  on  the  circuit,  and  left 
me  to  work  for  him.  This  was  an  agreeable  change  to  us 
both.  In  those  days  I  did  regard  brother  Burns  as  a  choice 
laborer  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  and  he  still  remains  in 
the  itinerant  ranks,  a  faithful  Christian  minister.      He  and  I 


280  KECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

differ  as  to  tlie  propriety  and  necessity  of  the  action  of  the  Con- 
vention of  1858,  in  cutting  loose  from  all  the  slaveholding  Con- 
ferences and  Churches  in  the  South.  But  the  events  unfolding, 
against  the  conclusion  of  this  great  and  terrible  war,  will,  no 
doubt,  bring  us  to  see  alike.  Good  men  may  differ  in  opinion, 
and  still  be  kind  to  one  another,  until  further  light  is  obtained 


CONFERENCE   IN   NEW   LISBON,    OUIO.  281. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Conference  in  New  Lisbon,  Ohio— Elected  President— Removal  to  Steubenvilie— 
conference  in  plttsburoir— appointed  to  pittsburgh— tue  use  of  tobacco— con- 
FERENCE IN  Alleghany— Keappointed  to  PitTSBUROH  with  Kev.  J.  Cowl  as  Assist- 
ant-Annual Conference  Action  on  the  Slavery  Question. 

In  the  mouth  of  September,  1839,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference 
was  held  in  New  Lisbon,  Ohio.  Our  Church  in  that  place  was 
not  strong,  but  still  had  friends,  and  the  Conference  was  enter- 
tained in  a  very  satisfactory  manner.  Once  more  I  was  elected 
President.  Having  been  out  of  that  office  for  five  or  six  years, 
it  was  now  deemed  my  turn  to  serve  again.  Yet,  if  I  had  been 
aware  of  the  full  amount  of  labor  before  me,  I  should  certainly 
have  shrunk  from  the  task.  Rev.  Hugh  Kelly's  case  gave  the 
Conference  some  trouble.  He  had  been  stationed  in  New  Lis- 
bon the  preceding  year,  and  for  very  grave  oifenses  against  the 
people  of  his  charge,  and  others,  complaints  were  laid  before 
the  Conference  against  him.  A  committee,  with  Rev.  A.  Shinn 
for  chairman,  was  appointed  to  examine  into  the  matter,  and 
report  a  bill  of  charges  and  specifications,  if  a  judicial  investi- 
gation should  be  deemed  necessary.  The  committee  did  find  a 
bill  of  very  serious  charges  against  him,  and  ordered  his  case 
to  be  referred  to  the  proper  authorities  for  trial.  Kelly  then 
arose,  made  an  abusive  speech,  refused  to  go  to  trial,  and  with- 
drew from  the  Church  under  charges.  The  night  after  the  ad- 
journment of  Conference,  some  citizens  got  up  an  indignation 
meeting  in  the  court-house,  to  denounce  that  body  for  finding 
a  bill  of  charges  against  Kelly,  and  ordering  him  to  be  tried, 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  Church.  Rev.  Z.  Ragan  and  my- 
self, with  a  few  other  preachers,  remained  to  attend  the  meet- 
18 


282  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

ing  in  the  court-house,  and  vindicate  our  action.  Several  law- 
yers and  one  doctor  spoke  in  favor  of  Kelly,  neither  of  whom 
seemed  to  know  exactly  the  nature  of  the  case.  Then  a  young 
Presbyterian  minister  gave  the  Conference  a  most  ample  vindica- 
tion. Ragan  and  I  each  made  a  speech,  showing  that  the  charges 
against  Kelly  were  very  grave;  that  the  witnesses  in  behalf  of 
the  Church  were  numerous  and  respectable ;  that  the  Confer- 
ence had  proceeded  in  the  case  according  to  the  forms  of  law ; 
that  Kelly  had  fled  from  justice;  that  that  assembly  was  not 
the  place  fairly  to  determine  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  man, 
and  that  a  due  respect  for  themselves,  and  for  the  Church  from 
■which  he  had  fled,  ought  to  cause  them  to  forbear  any  action 
that  would  cast  censure  on  the  Conference.  By  this  time,  that 
crowded  audience  began  to  think,  I  suppose,  that  they  did  not 
fully  understand  the  case  in  hand ;  so,  looking  wisely  at  each 
other,  they  all  took  their  hats  and  quietly  went  home,  leaving 
Kelly  to  his  fate.  The  meeting  closed  with  a  great  deal  of 
mirth  at  his  expense,  and  that  of  his  friends,  who  certainly 
meant  to  teach  us  a  lesson  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  This 
Kelly  was  from  England,  and  had  been  eight  years  a  sailor. 
He  had  been  the  means  of  great  injury  to  one  of  our  Northern 
Conferences,  and  then  went  to  Canada,  from  whence  he  came  to 
us  in  Pittsburgh,  where  he  was  kindly  received,  for  at  that  time 
we  knew  nothing  of  his  history.  He  hated  our  civil  govern- 
ment, and  was  often  heard  to  say  that  our  nation  would  never 
be  respectable  until  it  became  a  monarchy. 

After  moving  my  ftimily  to  Steubenville,  and  comfortably  sit- 
uating them  among  kind  friends,  I  went  forth  to  the  labors  of 
the  presidency.  The  Pittsburgh  District  then  included  Western 
Virginia,  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  North-eastern  Ohio,  down 
to  the  Scioto  and  Sandusky  Rivers.  Within  these  bounds,  our 
cause  having  prospered,  a  great  deal  of  work  was  to  be  done. 
To  give  a  Sabbath  to  each  circuit  and  station  filled  up  the 
whole  year.  It  was  a  time  of  ingathering  to  the  Churches,  and 
on  week  days  and  nights,  as  well  as  on  Sundays,  they  kept  me 
preaching.  Besides  all  my  labors  in  traveling,  attending  Quar- 
terly Conferences,  love-feasts,  sacraments,  revivals,  conversation 


APPOINTED    TO    PITTSBURGH  STATION.  283 

among  friends,  and  keeping  up  a  heavy  correspondence,  I  av- 
eraged six  and  a  half  sermons  per  week,  throughout  the  whole 
year.  By  the  close  of  it,  however,  my  health  had  very  much 
failed;  my  liver,  lungs,  and  diaphragm  were  all  in  a  bad  con- 
dition. From  that  time  to  the  present,  (1864,)  my  lungs  have 
never  regained  their  original  elastic  power,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, an  occasional  stutter  comes  over  my  speech,  and  my 
articulation  in  preaching  has  to  be  more  deliberate  than  iu 
former  years.  But  wounds  received  and  the  scars  of  war, 
whether  inflicted  in  the  defense  of  our  country,  or  in  the  bat- 
tles of  the  Lord,  will  never  be  considered  as  marks  of  disgrace 
by  any  candid  man.  When  I  returned  from  the  toils  of  the 
district,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  I  found  my  family  in  sorrow. 
My  youngest  son  lay  dead  in  the  house,  and  I  was  not  aware 
of  that  fact  until  I  reached  my  own  door.  It  was  a  time  of 
great  political  excitement.  Martin  Van  Buren  and  General  W. 
H.  Harrison  were  the  candidates  for  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
nation.  Both  political  parties  had  a  meeting  in  Steubenville 
that  day.  The  town  was  full  of  people  and  banners  and  noise. 
Amid  the  whole  of  this  confusion,  two  hours  after  my  arrival 
at  home,  our  dear  little  Benjamin  was  laid  in  his  grave.  To 
bury  lovely  children  is  a  sore  trial  to  parents.  Yet,  with  all 
the  certainty  that  the  truth  of  Holy  Writ  can  give,  we  know 
we  shall,  if  faithful,  see  them  again,  ''for  of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  Heaven  is  full  of  little  children.  What  a 
Turkish  divinity  that  is  which  teaches  the  doctrine  of  infant 
reprobation!  It  is  not  found  in  the  Bible:  it  is  a  metaphysical 
deduction  from  a  mere  assumption,  and  has  neither  justice  nor 
mercy  to  stand  upon. 

In  September,  1840,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in 
Steubenville,  and  I  was  appointed  to  the  Pittsburgh  Station. 
This  appointment  was  in  agreement  with  the  wishes  of  my  old 
friends  in  that  city,  and  with  my  own  inclinations.  But,  after 
all,  it  ought  not  to  have  been  made,  as  I  was  really  unable  to 
perform  the  labors  of  that  weighty  charge.  That  year  my 
health  required  rest  and  care,  but  it  was  impossible  to  take 
either,  and  yet  attend  to  all  the  duties  of  such  a  station.     So 


284  KECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

ray  health  and  the  station  both  had  to  suffer  together.  But 
brother  Shinn's  retvirn  to  his  home  in  Alleghany  gave  me  some 
relief,  as,  by  an  arrangement,  he  filled  the  pulpit  for  me  every 
other  Sunday  morning.  His  age,  experience,  and  heavenly  wisdom 
were  all  of  great  value  to  me  and  to  the  people  of  my  charge. 
Yet,  the  balance  of  the  labors  of  the  pulpit  and  the  toils  of 
pastoral  visitations  required  more  strength  than  I  could  com- 
mand. So  kind-hearted  were  the  people  of  my  charge,  that 
they  bore  with  me  in  my  afflictions,  and  placed  a  higher  value 
on  my  services  than  they  de^ierved,  and  many  a  time  I  felt  sor- 
rowful because  I  could  not  be  more  efficient  as  a  laborer  among 
them.  The  congregations  in  the  Fifth  Street  Station,  consid- 
ering my  defective  ministrations,  were  generally  good.  This 
■was  attributable  more  to  pastoral  visitations  and  brother  Shinn's 
assistance  in  the  pulpit,  than  to  such  preaching  as  mine  that 
year.  But,  in  the  midst  of  all  my  infirmities,  I  did  the  best  I 
could,  and  my  labors  were  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  Sinners 
were  converted,  and  there  was  quite  an  encouraging  addition 
made  to  the  Church ;  some  of  whom  have  gone  to  heaven,  some 
have  moved  to  other  places,  and  others  yet  remain  to  honor  the 
cause  of  Christ,  and  to  greet  me  when  I  return  to  visit  my  old 
friends  in  Pittsburgh. 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  184:1,  Bev.  Z.  Bagan,  then  Presi- 
dent of  the  Conference,  and  I  entered  into  an  agreement  that 
we  would  discontinue  the  u<e  of  tobacco,  regarding  it  as  hardly 
reconcilable  with  personal  decency,  and  as  prejudicial  to  health. 
Though  I  had  used  tobacco  for  about  nine  years,  and  its  use  in 
that  time  had  become  habitual,  yet  a  fixed  resolution  carried 
me  forward,  and  I  used  it  no  more  for  one  whole  year.  This 
effort,  instead  of  resulting  in  physical  improvement,  had  pre- 
cisely the  contrary  effect.  It  was  about  the  most  unhealthy 
year  of  my  life.  In  about  two  months  I  accumulated  thirty 
pounds  of  additional  flesh,  of  not  a  very  sound  character.  The 
cavity  of  my  chest  became  gorged  with  fat,  leaving  but  little 
room  for  the  expansion  of  the  lungs  in  breathing.  They 
seemed  constantly  prone  to  run  into  inflammation,  by  being 
too  tightly  compressed  together^  and  my  breathing  was  a  mere 


THE   USE    OF   TOBACCO.  285 

pant  with  the  upper  part  of  them.  A  constant  determination 
of  blood  to  my  brain,  vertigo,  a  sense  of  weariness,  as  if  my 
weight  were  far  too  great  for  me  to  carry  about  the  streets,  all 
indicated  danger  of  an  attack  of  apoplexy.  With  these  symp- 
toms of  disease  upon  me,  I  struggled  /through  the  year,  often 
having  to  seek  relief  for  my  head  and  lungs  by  getting  freely 
bled,  when  out  from  home  visiting  my  flock. 

My  ultimate  conclusion  was,  after  one  year  of  fair  trial,  that, 
somehow  or  other,  I  had  made  tobacco  constitutionally  neces- 
sary to  my  life  and  health  and  usefulness.  I  then  returned  to 
its  use:  my  flesh  gradually  became  reduced;  all  the  various 
symptoms  of  disease  left  me,  and  I  have  been  able,  with  but 
little  obstruction,  to  pursue  my  ministerial  calling  ever  since. 
The  conclusions  which  I  draw  from  this  whole  matter  are  the 
following:  First.  It  is  utterly  wrong  to  get  into  the  habit  of 
using  tobacco,  and  all  men  who  have  not  yet  gone  so  far  as  to 
have  made  it  constitutionally  necessary  to  them,  should  quit  the 
use  of  it  at  once  and  forever.  Secondly.  In  those  cases  of 
fleshy  men,  where  long  use  has  made  it  constitutionally  neces- 
sary to  them,  it  is  better  to  use  it  than  to  throw  away  health 
and  usefulness  and  life.  Thirdly.  Persons  who  have  but  little 
flesh  should  never  use  tobacco ;  it  is  a  constant  drain  upon  the 
physical  system.  If  it  would  reduce  a  fat  man  like  me,  it 
would  reduce  them,  and  they  have  no  flesh  to  spare,  and  must 
sufl"er  injury  by  its  use.  The  very  argument,  therefore,  which 
justified  me  in  using  tobacco  would  be  strongly  against  the  use 
of  it  by  persons  who  are  lean  in  flesh.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
persons  of  a  slender  physical  constitution  often  waste  themselves 
down  to  consumption  by  using  tobacco.  Fourthly.  Some  rank 
the  use  of  tobacco  among  the  moral  evils — as  a  positive  sin  in 
all  cases.  I  have  not  so  regarded  it,  but  have  placed  it  among 
things  indifierent.  Still,  when  it  injures  health,  it  is  certainly 
a  moral  evil,  for  every  man  who  abuses  his  health  is  a  sinner. 
Fifthly.  What  Jesus  said  in  reference  to  another  case  may,  on 
general  principles,  be  applicable  here :  "  Hearken  unto  me,  every 
one  of  you,  and  understand:  there  is  nothing  from  without  a 
man  that  entering   into   him   can   defile   him:    but  the   things 


286  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

which  come  out  of  him,  those  are  they  that  defile  the  man. 
From  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  proceed  evil  thoughts, 
adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  covetousness,  wicked- 
ness, deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blasphemy,  pride,  fool- 
ishness. All  these  things  come  from  within  and  defile  the 
man." 

Ih  September,  1841,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in 
Alleghany,  and  I  was  reappointed  to  Pittsburgh.  I  accepted 
this  appointment  as  a  matter  of  favor  to  me,  personally,  in  a 
time  of  feeble  health.  Some  few  of  the  brethren,  I  was  in- 
formed, desired  a  change,  and  to  have  a  more  efficient  laborer. 
This  was  natural,  and  I  could  not  blame  them.  But  all  parties 
were  accommodated,  as  the  Conference  gave  me  Rev.  John  Cowl 
for  a  colleague.  lie  was  a  vigorous,  talented,  pious,  faithful 
young  man.  He  boarded  in  my  family,  was  a  hard  student,  a 
good  preacher,  and  possessed  a  generous,  social  heart.  We  had 
a  pleasant  year  together. 

At  this  Conference  the  representatives  to  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1842  were  elected.  This  was  the  time  to  receive  in- 
structions from  the  primary  assemblies  as  to  how  we  were  to 
act  in  General  Conference  on  the  slave  questioij.  Very  few  of 
the  circuits  and  stations  had  expressed  their  wishes,  yet  the 
brethren,  on  the  few  memorials  we  had,  proceeded  to  give  in- 
structions. While  this  matter  was  on  hand,  the  debate  ran  very 
high ;  not  that  any  one  favored  slavery,  but,  as  not  more  than 
one-eighth  of  our  people  had  spoken,  and  the  Conference  could 
not  be  authorized  by  such  a  small  minority  to  instruct  their 
representatives — of  whom  I  was  one — to  the  General  Conference 
to  take  action  either  for  or  against  slavery,  it  was  deemed  by 
myself,  and  some  others,  best  to  he  left  free  until  a  competent 
majority  of  the  primary  assemblies  should  give  direction  to  our 
action  in  opposition  to  that  evil.  But  instructions  were  given, 
and  I  made  up  my  mind  that,  as  a  representative  to  the  General 
Conference,  I  would  do  no  act  in  that  body  which,  in  my  judg- 
ment, would  rend  the  Church.  Sound  Christian  morality,  I 
knew,  condemned  slavery,  and  I  was  ready  to  condemn  it,  too, 
whenever  the  Annual  Conference,  authorized  by  a  majority  of 


VIEWS    UPON    SLAVERY.  287 

our  Cliurcli  members,  instructed  me  to  do  so.  The  General 
Conference  of  1838  had  thrown  out  the  shive  question  to  the 
Churches,  that  during  the  following  four  years  they  might  give 
direction  as  to  what  should  be  done  with  it  at  the  next  General 
Conference,  and  I  was  not  willing  to  act  in  the  premises  until 
the  Churches  had  spoken,  demanding  condemnatory  action  at 
my  hands.  How  could  the  General  Conference  of  1842  act  any 
better  upon  this  question,  without  instruction  from  the  primary 
assemblies,  than  the  General  Conference  of  1838  ?  And  for 
the  Annual  Conference  to  assume  the  right  to  give  instructions, 
apart  from,  the  people,  to  whom  the  case  had  been  referred,  I 
held  to  be  ecclesiastically  wrong;  so  did  many  others. 

These  views  I  continued  to  entertain  at  the  time  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  in  1842,  and  by  acting  on  them  I  brought  upon 
myself,  from  the  ultra  Abolition  party,  a  great  deal  of  censure. 
But  few  of  the  Conferences  had  asked  the  General  Conference 
for  action  on  this  subject,  and  I  was  not  willing  to  be  drawn 
into  it  by  a  minority.  Such  was  the  character  of  our  Church 
constitution,  that  we  could  not  legislate  against  slavery,  for  this 
would  be  an  attack  upon  the  civil  laws  of  the  South,  and  was 
prohibited  by  that  instrument.  Nor  could  we  legislate  in  favor 
of  slavery,  for  that  would  be  contrary  to  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  was,  likewise,  forbidden  by  the  constitution.  This  was 
equal  to  a  prohibition  of  all  legislation  on  the  question.  But 
the  General  Conference  might  express  its  sentiments  in  a  reso- 
lution. This  I  was  not  willing  to  do  at  the  request  of  a  minor- 
ity of  our  Churches.  In  my  judgment,  it  took  a  majority  to 
command  General  Conference  action  in  a  case  which  might  di- 
vide the  Church.  In  my  opinion,  at  that  time,  a  resolution 
condemning  all  sUveholders,  indiscriminately,  as  guilty  sinners, 
would  have  done  the  slaves  no  good,  would  have  so  exasperated 
the  masters  as  to  divide  the  Church — a  thing  I  very  much 
wished  to  avoid — and  would  have  precluded  the  possibility  of 
the  Northern  Churches  doing  any  good  in  the  South  on  the 
slave  question,  or  in  spreading  the  Gospel  among  them,  in  all 
time  to  come. 

Finding  that  action  of  some  kind  must  be  had  by  the  body, 


288  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT  LIFE. 

and  feeling  unwilling  to  put  the  integrity  of  the  Churcli  at  too 
great  a  hazard,  I  went  with  the  conservatives,  both  in  speech 
and  vote,  and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  : 

'^Resolved,  That,  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Conference, 
the  holding  of  slaves  is  not,  under  all  circumstances,  a  sin 
against  God ;  yet,  in  our  opinion,  under  some  circumstances  it 
is  sinful,  and  in  such  cases  should  be  discouraged  by  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church.  This  General  Conference  does  not  feel 
authorized  by  the  constitution  to  legislate  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  and  by  a  solemn  vote  we  present  to  the  Church  our 
judgment,  that  the  different  Annual  Conferences,  respectively, 
should  make  their  own  regulations  on  this  subject,  so  far  as 
authorized  by  the  constitution." 

This  resolution  was  in  agreement  with  the  light  we  then  had, 
and,  in  our  opinion,  saved  the  Church  from  immediate  division. 
My  action  in  the  premises  was  assailed  with  a  great  deal  of  mis- 
representation and  bitterness  by  Revs..  John  Clark,  jr.,  Edward 
Smith,  and  John  McKaskey,  in  a  paper  called  the  Spirit  of 
Liberty.  Smith,  the  editor,  very  kindly  called  upon  my  con- 
gregation, in  an  editorial,  to  withhold  my  support  and  starve 
me  into  measures.  Did  not  this  look  like  persecution  in  its 
worst  form?  To  doom  me  to  death  by  starvation,  for  difference 
of  opinion,  would  be  about  as  merciful  as  to  burn  me  at  the 
Btake.  My  defense  against  these  attacks  was  made  in  the  West- 
ern Recorder,  and  our  people,  in  general,  justified  my  course. 
The  light  we  had,  the  progress  of  events  in  our  cooperation 
with  the  South,  and  the  unfoldings  of  Providence  had  not,  at 
that  time,  prepared  us  for  a  separation  from  slaveholding 
Churches  and  Conferences. 

I  could  not  vote  for  the  foregoing  resolution  at  the  present 
time.  In  my  deliberate  judgment,  not  only  the  slave-trade,  but 
slaveholding  under  any  circumstances,  is  always  sinful.  If  the 
sin  is  not  in  the  man  who  holds  the  slave  and  would  free  him 
if  he  could,  it  must  be  in  the  law  which  hinders  freedom.  And 
where  the  slaveholder's  heart  is  in  agreement  with  the  wicked 


ANNUAL  CONFERENCE  AND  THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION.     289 

law  wliicli  hinders  freedom  to  the  slave,  the  sin  is  both  in  the 
law  and  in  the  man  who  holds  the  slave.  This  thing  of  part- 
ing husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  children,  and  making  mer- 
chandise of  the  souls  and  bodies  of  human  beings,  is  certainly 
a  sin  of  the  highest  character  against  the  spirit  and  laws  of  the 
Christian  religion.  And  for  complicity  in  this  mammoth  wrong 
to  the  colored  race,  and  for  other  sins,  our  nation  is  now  un- 
dergoing a  terrible  punishment  at  the  hands  of  a  just  God,  in 
the  form  of  a  most  desolating  civil  war.  God  he  merciful  to  ws 
sinners. 

As  the  year  advanced,  my  health  improved,  and  among  the 
good  people  of  Pittsburgh  I  found  myself  comfortable  and 
happy;  and  not  one  of  them,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection, 
ever  attempted  to  starve  me  by  withholding  support,  as  advised 
by  the  editor  of  the  Spirit  of  Liberty.  A  considerable  number 
of  my  charge  were  Abolitionists,  but  they  were  a  liberal-minded 
people,  and  allowed  me  to  think  and  speak  and  act  for  myself, 
without  bringing  the  pressure  of  starvation  to  force  me  into 
their  peculiar  views.  Where  was  ever  found  a  more  thorough 
Abolitionist  than  Rev.  Charles  Avery?  Who  was  ever  more 
liberal  and  courteous  to  those  who  differed  from  him  in  opinion, 
than  he?  And  the  great  body  of  the  members  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Church  were  of  the  Avery  stamp,  and  copied  after  him 
in  liberality  of  sentiment  and  action.  Edward  Smith,  I  was 
told,  aided  by  John  Clark,  got  up  a  meeting  of  the  leading 
abolition  members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  Pitts- 
burgh, and  used  his  utmost  endeavors  to  draw  them  off  from 
me,  because  I  could  not,  or  would  not,  pronounce  the  true  Abo- 
lition Shibboleth  in  his  style.  But  they  resisted  him  manfully, 
and  said  to  me  the  next  day,  with  a  good  deal  of  pleasantry, 
that  they  had  found  it  necessary  to  defend  themselves  against 
Smith's  efforts  to  take  them  into  a  new  organization,  by  the  use 
of  my  arguments. 

The  year  drew  to  a  close.  Cowl  and  I  had  labored  together 
in  harmony.  At  a  protracted  meeting  during  the  winter,  the 
Church  had  been  much  revived;  sinners  had  been  converted  and 
cast  in   their   lot  with   us,  and   all   was  peace  throughout  the 


290  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

brotlierhood.  A  more  orderly  Churcli  I  never  knew,  nor  have 
I  ever  found  a  Christian  community  of  a  more  trustworthy,  re- 
liable character.  Many  a  time  have  I  thought  that  I  would 
like  to  close  my  life  among  my  Pittsburgh  friends,  and  sleep 
in  death  somewhere  near  the  resting-place  of  brother  Avery, 
my  old  benefactor,  and  brother  Shinn,  the  prince  of  preachers. 
But  God  has,  I  suppose,  ordered  it  otherwise.  My  sons  lie 
buried  here,  and  I  must  find  a  resting-place  with  them.  No 
difi'erence  where  our  bodies  lie  on  earth,  so  we  all  meet  in 
heaven. 


DIVISION   OF    PITTSBURGH   CONFERENCE.  291 


CIIAPTEK   XVI. 

Division  or  PiTTSBunGii  Conference— Elected  President— Exercise  op  Church  Dis- 
cipline—Kejioval  TO  Steubenville— Tour  in  Western  Virginia— Conference  in 
Pittsburgh— Ke-elected  President— Discussion  on  Phrenology- Lumbermen  at 
Goose  Creek— Adventures  in  the  Mountains— Conference  at  Fairmont— Third 
Year  in  the  Presidency. 

In  September,  1842,  tlio  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in 
Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio.  On  my  way  to  that  Conference,  my  horse 
became  so  seriously  diseased  that  I  had  to  leave  him  in  St. 
Clairsville.  When  I  returned,  poor  Jack  was  near  his  end, 
and  died  in  a  short  time.  From  thence,  Mrs.  Brown  and  I 
went,  by  stage,  to  a  camp-meeting  near  Brownsville,  on  the 
Muskingum  Circuit.  It  was  a  glorious  meeting.  Brothers 
Shinn,  Springer,  J.  Dalbey,  and  a  good  many  other  ministers 
were  there,  on  their  way  to  the  Conference.  The  preaching  was 
attended  by  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One ;  sinners  felt  the  power 
of  saving  grace  and  were  converted  to  God,  and  professors  were 
greatly  revived.  From  the  meeting  we  were  taken  to  Mt.  Ver- 
non in  a  private  conveyance.  At  that  Conference  the  Mus- 
kingum District  was  set  off.  Rev.  Israel  Thrap  was  elected 
President,  and  so  was  I.  We  were  left  to  settle  the  question 
between  ourselves  as  to  our  fields  of  labor.  I  offered  Thrap  his 
choice,  hoping  he  would  be  equally  generous  and  refer  the  choice 
back  to  me,  for  I  wanted  Muskingum;  but  he  at  once  chose  that 
Conference,  so  I  was  left,  rather  contrary  to  my  wishes,  to  the 
Pittsburgh  District,  with  all  the  hills,  mountains,  and  valleys  of 
Western  Virginia  and  Western  Pennsylvania  before  me.  Yet 
among  these  mountains,  hills,  and  valleys  I  had  many  warm 
friends,  and  felt  very  well  satisfied  with  my  field  of  labor.     My 


292  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT  LITE. 

district,  being  in  an  elevated  region,  afforded  me  good  water  and 
pure  air,  and  thus  contributed  very  much  to  my  health. 

The  Conference  was  comfortably  entertained  at  Mt.  Vernon, 
and  made  a  favorable  impression  on  the  community;  but  the 
slavery  question,  as  usual  in  those  days,  occasioned  us  no  little 
perplexity.  Two  of  the  preachers  gave  us  trouble.  Each,  by 
mismanagement,  had  become  embroiled  with  his  circuit,  and  on 
each  circuit  a  strong  party  was  formed  against  the  Superintend- 
ent, with  an  unstationed  preacher  at  its  head.  On  neither  cir- 
cuit did  the  membership  act  together  in  the  election  of  delegates, 
so  each  party  on  each  circuit  sent  up  a  delegate,  and  in  each 
case  the  party  adverse  to  the  Superintendent  laid  in  charges 
to  the  Conference  against  him.  These  double  delegations  were 
rejected  by  the  Conference,  and  both  the  preachers  were  re- 
ferred back  to  the  scene  of  their  strife  for  trial,  under  my  ad- 
ministration. As  both  of  these  afflicted  circuits  were  large  and 
valuable,  I  made  all  due  haste  to  bring  on  the  trials.  On  nei- 
ther of  the  circuits  were  there  any  neutrals;  all  the  members 
were  strongly  for  or  against  the  men  to  be  tried.  In  each  case 
there  were  about  sixty  witnesses,  and  the  indications  were  un- 
favorable for  harmony  in  the  testimony.  Party  coloring  might 
be  expected  under  the  circumstances,  and  conflict  in  testimony 
might  ruin  the  circuits.  In  each  case  I  approached  the  day  ap- 
pointed with  much  concern  of  mind^perhaps  more  than  either 
of  the  accused  felt — and,  before  going  into  trial,  preached  a  ser- 
mon to  the  assembly,  which  was  large,  on  Christian  charity, 
showing  the  absurdity  of  expecting  forgiveness  from  Grod  if  we 
did  not  forgive  one  another.  In  each  case  I  made  the  parties  in 
controversy  a  proposition  to  try,  fii'st  of  all,  to  settle  their  diffi- 
culties on  Gospel  principles,  by  mutual  confessions  and  mutual 
forgiveness,  provided  the  preacher  be  removed  to  some  other 
field  of  labor.  This  proposition  was  accepted,  the  confessions 
were  made,  not  only  by  the  accused,  but  by  many  others  on 
each  side  of  the  controversy,  and  the  brethren  generally  mu- 
tually forgave  one  another.  The  preachers  were  then  removed 
to  other  places,  and  the  whole  matter  was  left  to  calm  down. 

Some  few  were  dissatisfied,  because  the  accused  had  not  been 


REMOVAL    TO    STETJBENVILLE.  293 

tried  as  the  Conference  had  ordered.  But  what  better  could  I 
do  with  such  overwhelming,  wide-spread,  untoward  cases  on  my 
hands?  I  maintain  that  in  each  of  these  cases  I  did  conduct  a 
Gosjiel  trial,  which  reached  not  only  the  accused,  but  both  par- 
ties, with  its  humbling  and  reforming  influences.  The  object  of 
all  just  Church  discipline  must  be  to  serve  the  cause  of  Christ, 
and  I  think  this  end  was  accomplished.  I  have  stated  these 
cases  together  because  of  their  general  similarity.  I  had  never 
seen  the  like  of  them  before,  and  hope  I  never  may  again.  The 
ensuing  Conference,  very  much  to  my  gratification,  approved  of 
my  administration.  Many  Churches  might  be  saved  from  ruin 
if  the  mutual  confession  and  forgiveness  plan  were  more  gener- 
ally adopted. 

That  year  I  retained  my  house  in  Pittsburgh  until  spring, 
with  brother  Cowl  still  boarding  in  my  family.  When  he  was 
with  them,  I  felt  less  concern  of  mind  while  out  on  tho  district, 
as  I  had  all  confidence  in  his  kindness  of  heart  and  willingness 
to  see  to  their  welfare.  On  the  1st  of  April,  1843,  I  removed  to 
Steubenville,  to  cheapen  my  rent  and  living,  and  to  situate  my 
family  among  old,  well-tried  friends,  where  there  was  a  first-class 
female  seminary,  to  which  I  could  send  my  daughter.  There, 
too,  my  eldest  son  had  the  advantages  of  Dr.  Scott's  academy. 
Itinerant  ministers  can  not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  leave  worldly 
wealth  to  their  children.  Let  them  make  sure  of  giving  them  a 
good  Christian  education.  This  is  the  true  wealth  of  the  mind 
and  heart. 

After  living  one  year  in  a  rented  house,  I  bought  a  comforta- 
ble little  home  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Esq.,  the  present  Secre- 
tary of  War.  When,  through  the  assistance  of  brother  Avery, 
I  made  the  last  payrnent  on  my  property,  the  interest,  amount- 
ing to  ninety-three  dollars,  was  all  forgiven  by  Mr.  Stanton. 
"Now,"  said  I,  "this  is  all  very  kind,  and  completes  the  whole 
transaction  save  the  removal  of  the  mortgage."  "About  that 
mortgage,"  he  replied,  "there  will  be  no  trouble,  as  I  never  had 
it  recorded."  So,  from  among  his  papers,  he  drew  it  out,  and 
handed  it  to  me,  with  a  laugh,  saying  he  had  "never  entertained 
any  fears  of  my  not  paying  him."     My  opinion  is,  if  he  had 


294  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

found  me  seriously  puzzled  to  make  the  last  payment,  three 
hundred  dollars,  the  whole  would  have  been  forgiven  by  that 
kin^-hearted  man.  I  am  justified  in  this  opinion  by  his  vari- 
ous acts  of  kindness  to  me  since  that  time,  especially  since  he 
has  been  Secretary  of  War.  The  help  he  gave  me  in  the  recov- 
ery of  my  dying  son  from  Grant's  army,  near  Vicksburg,  when 
all  other  help  had  failed,  will  never  be  forgotten.  While  I  live 
and  cherish  the  memory  of  my  dear  son  George,  who  is  now  in 
heaven,  I  shall  always  be  thankful  for  such  a  friend  as  Secretary 
Stanton.  I  have  known  him  from  his  boyhood.  I  took  him  into 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  when  he  was  about  twelve 
years  of  age,  drilled  him  about  two  years  in  a  Bible-class,  and 
have  full  faith  in  the  integrity  and  benevolence  of  his  character. 
I  felt  my  home  in  Steubenville  to  be  agreeable,  for  I  was 
among  an  excellent  class  of  citizens.  The  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  in  that  city  stood  well  in  the  community,  and  I  regarded 
the  membership  generally  as  pious,  earnest,  intelligent  Chris- 
tians, among  whom  it  was  a  pleasure  to  have  my  family  situ- 
ated. It  was  an  agreeable  place  in  which  to  spend  what  little 
time  I  might  have  to  rest  from  the  toils  of  the  district.  Some 
of  the  best  Christian  friends  I  erer  had  in  my  life  still  reside  in 
Steubenville.  Among  the  more  prominent  of  them,  it  gives  me 
pleasure  to  name  Captain  J.  A.  Dohrman,  M.  M.  Laughlin,  and 
M.  E.  Lucas.  Captain  A.  Devinny  has  passed  away  to  the  eter- 
nal world;  so  has  A.  Sutherland,  Esq.  This  last-named  brother 
was  drawn  crooked  by  rheumatism,  and  was  a  man  of  feeble 
health ;  but  he  was  a  real,  practical  philosopher,  and  had  in  his 
mental  constitution  a  rich  vein  of  ready,  pungent  wit.  Shortly 
after  I  organized  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  that  city, 
the  following  anecdote  was  told  me  by  Rev.  T.  M.  Hudson,  pas- 
tor of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  same  place.  The 
contest  in  coui't  between  the  Hicksite  and  Orthodox  Quakei'S, 
about  Church  property,  was  just  over.  Judge  Tappan  had  been 
the  leading  lawyer  for  the  Hicksites.  One  morning,  the  Judge, 
having  just  heard  of  the  new  swarm  out  of  the  old  Methodist 
Episcopal  hive,  met  'Squire  Sutherland  on  the  way  to  his  office, 
and  said,  with  a  nasal  twang  in  his  voice,  while  he  peeped  into 


TOUR   IN   WESTERN   VIRGINIA.  295 

Sutherland's  face  with  his  squint  eyes,  "Hey,  'Squire!  I  hear 
you  have  got  the  devil  in  your  Church,  too."  "  I  did  not 
know  that.  Judge,"  said  the  'Squire;  '■'■lohen  did  you  join?" 
"Humph!"  said  Tappan,  and  away  he  went,  amid  the  pealing 
laughter  of  the  bystanders.  Mr.  Sutherland  was  a  true  Chris- 
tian as  well  as  a  great  wit — a  man  of  sound  judgment  in  ecclesi- 
astical matters. 

Having  visited  all  the  central  part  of  the  district  during  the 
fall  and  winter,  the  two  extremes  demanded  my  attention  the 
remainder  of  the  year.  Early  in  May,  with  my  wife  and  two 
of  the  children,  Ann  Eliza  and  George,  I  started  on  a  long 
Southern  tour  in  Western  Virginia,  intending  to  leave  Mrs. 
Brown  and  the  children  with  my  brother-in-law,  Robert  Jack- 
^.  son,  at  Milford,  Harrison  County,  Virginia,  until  my  return  from 
the  Greenbrier  country.  To  make  the  stages  of  travel  easy,  I 
had  arranged  to  have  appointments  at  suitable  distances,  both 
going  and  coming.  While  resting  at  Dr.  O'Kelly's,  in  Morgan- 
town,  George,  while  at  play  with  the  Doctor's  children,  in  the 
yard,  fell  and  broke  his  arm.  This  was  a  sad  disaster;  but  the 
bone  was  immediately  set  by  the  Doctor,  and  we  moved  on  that 
afternoon  to  Fairmont.  When  my  meeting  in  that  place  was 
over,  it  was  deemed  best  not  to  take  the  family  any  further. 
Robert  Jackson  was  then  called  on,  by  letter,  to  visit  them  in 
that  place;  and,  on  Monday  morning,  leaving  my  carriage,  I 
took  my  horse  and  was  oif  for  Greenbrier  Circuit,  with  J.  W. 
Beshor,  the  assistant  on  Morgautowu  Circuit,  for  my  traveling 
companion.  It  took  us  pretty  hard  traveling  until  Saturday, 
eleven  o'clock  A.  M.,  to  reach  our  destination.  After  a  good 
meeting  with  our  Methodist  Protestant  brethren,  at  a  place 
called  the  Bush,  it  took  us  until  meeting-time  on  the  following 
Sunday  morning  to  return  to  Fairmont.  Thus,  it  will  be  seen, 
that,  to  meet  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  that  distant  circuit 
and  of  the  Superintendent,  Rev.  D.  R.  Helwick,  I  traveled  hard 
for  near  two  weeks  through  most  intense  heat.  To  go  so  far, 
right  off  from  all  our  other  work,  for  but  one  general  meeting, 
did  seem  to  be  a  hardship.  Yet  Presidents  of  Conferences  have 
to  do  these  things,  or  the  cause  will  suffer.     Men  may  say  what 


296  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

they  will,  but  I  know  tliat  presidential  visits  have  a  tendency 
to  harmonize  our  body,  and  are  very  valuable  to  our  people, 
especially  on  border  circuits.  A  traveling  presidency,  at  the 
expense  of  the  whole  district,  ought  to  be  kept  up  for  the  gen- 
eral good  of  the  Church. 

On  my  return  I  found  George's  arm  improving,  and  my  wife 
and  daughter  well.  After  a  few  days  of  rest  among  old  friends, 
we  journeyed  on  toward  Pennsylvania,  where  we  spent  about 
three  weeks  attending  my  appointments,  and  then  shaped  our 
course  for  home.  This  whole  tour  was  accomplished  in  six 
weeks,  and,  bating  a  little  for  the  breaking  of  George's  arm — 
which  was  well  by  the  time  we  reached  home — it  was  a  very 
pleasant  trip  to  us  all,  and  prosperity  attended  the  meetings 
generally. 

J.  W.  Beshor  was  a  quarter-blooded  Indian ;  his  mother  was 
a  half-breed.  This  part  of  his  history  is  true,  but  in  every 
thing  else  his  statements  were  mere  fabrications.  He  reported 
himself  to  have  been  born  among  the  Indians,  about  one  thou- 
sand miles  above  St.  Louis,  on  the  head-waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi (I  do  not  now  remember  the  name  of  the  tribe)  ;  that  he 
was  brought  in  by  a  missionary,  to  be  educated  at  Marietta 
College;  that,  having  spent  some  time  at  college,  he  left  and 
went  in  search  of  the  Methodist  Protestants  and  joined  them, 
and  finally  entered  the  itinerant  ministry  among  them.  lu 
many  places  he  delivered  lectures  on  the  peculiarities  of  In- 
dian character,  and  generally  took  up  collections.  He  did  this 
once — perhaps  more  than  once — while  with  me  on  our  tour 
through  South-western  Virginia.  He  denied  ever  having  be- 
longed to  any  other  Church  than  ours,  and  seemed  desirous  to 
be  sent  back  to  his  tribe  as  a  missionary  from  our  Church,  for 
"he  was  greatly  concerned,"  he  said,  "for  the  salvation  of  the 
much-neglected  children  of  the  forest." 

Finally,  Beshor  came  to  me  and  took  a  transfer  to  one  of  the 
Western  Conferences.  Immediately  after  this,  it  came  out  in 
proof  that  he  had  been  born  in  Belmont  County,  Ohio,  near 
St.  Clairsville,  and  had  never  been  among  the  Indians  at  all ; 
also,  that  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 


CONFERENCE    IN   PITTSBURGH.  297 

Cturcli  in  Ohio,  and  was  actually  a  runaway  apprentice  from 
some  tin-sliop  in  Wheeling.  As  this  young  impostor  had  de- 
ceived me,  I  reported  his  case  faithfully  to  the  brethren  in  the 
West,  and  he  could  not  get  a  standing  among  them.  He  went 
then,  I  was  told,  to  the  New-School  Presbyterians,  but  his  char- 
acter followed  him.  He  then  went  to  the  Campbellites,  and 
there,  too,  his  character  followed  him.  From  thence  he  went  to 
the  Roman  Catholics.  He  seemed  to  have  a  "through-ticket." 
Whether  he  ever  joined  the  Jews  or  not,  I  have  never  heard. 
It  is  an  awful  thing  to  be  an  impostor.  Besh'or  was  a  talented 
young  man,  but  he  lacked  honesty  of  character. 

After  accomplishing  my  tour  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  the 
district,  where  I  attended  an  excellent  camp-meeting,  distributed 
Evans's  Ecclesiastical  Catechism  among  the  people,  and,  at  the 
request  of  the  congregation,  gave  them  a  lecture  on  Church 
government,  I  returned  home  and  prepared  for  Conference. 
Though  the  Pittsburgh  District  had,  by  the  division  the  year 
before,  been  reduced  in  size,  yet  I  had  found  in  it  full  employ- 
ment for  all  my  time  and  all  my  strength,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
year  felt  very  much  worn  down. 

In  September,  1843,  the  Conference  was  held  in  Pittsburgh, 
and  I  was  again  elected  President.  We  had  a  very  pleasant, 
harmonious  session,  and  the  impression  made  by  the  body  on 
the  community  was  decidedly  good.  This  year  I  had  no  eccle- 
siastical investigations  to  conduct;  all  the  preachers  were  at 
peace  among  themselves,  and  success  generally  attended  their 
labors.  All  my  traveling  was  by  buggy,  which  I  now  found  to 
be  less  fatiguing  than  by  saddle.  From  the  lake  on  the  north 
to  Greenbrier  in  the  south,  I  found  no  hills  or  mountains  that 
I  could  not  manage  to  pass  over  in  my  buggy.  The  noble  an- 
imal I  drove  was  always  safe  and  reliable ;  she  was  of  great 
spirit,  and,  when  it  was  found  necessary,  could  take  me  fifty 
miles  a  day,  if  the  roads  were  good.  As  the  usual  amount  of 
labor  and  privation  were  required  this  year,  I  shall  not  enter 
into  details,  but  only  give  a  few  of  the  more  interesting  occur- 
rences. 

In  attending  to  my  appointments,  I  traveled  among  the  hills 
19 


298  RECOLLECTIONS    OE    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

of  Western  Virginia,  until  I  came  to  Parkersburg,  in  my 
buggy,  and  then  left  it  and  "Lize"  in  the  care  of  a  friend, 
and  took  a  steamer  for  a  point  ninety  miles  below,  on  Jackson 
Circuit.  My  meeting  was  at  Ripley,  in  the  court-house,  twelve 
miles  out  from  the  river.  When  I  landed  at  the  mouth  of  Mill 
Creek,  an  elderly  gentleman  met  me  on  the  bank,  to  whom  I 
made  myself  known,  and  that  I  wanted  a  horse  to  carry  me  out 
to  Ripley,  to  attend  my  meeting  the  following  day — Saturday. 
Said  he,  "  If  you  will  come  and  rest  yourself  with  me  to-night, 
I  will  furnish  you  with  the  best  horse  for  the  trip  in  Jackson 
County;  provided,  you  will  agree  to  leave  an  appointment  and 
preach  for  us,  at  my  house,  on  your  return."  To  this  I  agreed, 
with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure,  and  was  very  kindly  entertained 
by  that  courteous  family.  In  the  morning,  when  the  horse  was 
brought  out,  he  had  on  an  old  Mexican  saddle,  with  a  piece  of 
carpet  under  it  instead  of  a  pad,  and  the  old  gentleman  apolo- 
gized for  his  lean  appearance,  by  saying,  "The  winter  has  been 
long  and  hard,  feed  very  scarce,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  horse 
IS  rather  low  in  flesh;  but  he  has  a  stout  frame,  and  will  carry 
you  very  well."  When  I  saw  that  animal  and  his  rigging,  I 
thought  of  what  I  read  in  a  newspaper  about  the  productive- 
ness of  Jackson  County.  A  gentleman  passing  through  a  lane 
■said  to  a  colored  man  sitting  on  the  fence,  "Is  this  a  pretty 
good  country?"  The  answer  was,  "First  rate,  massa,  first  rate; 
it  brings  two  crops  a  year."  "Ah!"  said  the  gentleman,  "how 
is  that?"  "Why,"  replied  Sambo,  "in  de  fall  ob  de  year 
massa  sells  off  all  de  hay — dat  one  crop;  den  in  de  spring  ob 
de  year  he  sells  off  all  de  skins  ob  de  cows — dat  two  crops." 
It  did  seem  to  me  that  the  skin  of  that  horse  was  very  near 
going  into  the  second  crop.  A  rain  had  fallen,  the  road  was 
slippery,  and  the  horse  had  no  shoes — up  hill  it  was  bad,  down 
hill  it  was  worse.  The  feebleness  of  that  poor  horse,  and  the 
slipperiuess  of  the  road,  made  my  ride  dangerous  to  life  and 
limb  all  the  way.  Finally,  with  no  little  mud  thrown  on  me 
by  the  long,  sweeping  tail  of  that  "best  horse  in  Jackson 
County,"  I  reached  my  destination,  and  preached  in  the  Ripley 
court-house,  to  quite  a  large  congregation. 


DISCUSSION    ON    PHRENOLOGY.  299 

That  day,  in  company  with  two  other  preachers,  I  dined  with 
the  clerk  of  the  court.  At  table  the  conversation  turned  on 
phrenology,  the  company  being  divided  in  opinion.  A  young 
preacher  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  who  took  the  lead 
in  favor  of  that  so-called  science,  said  to  me,  "  You  had  a  very 
talented  lecturer  on  phrenology  to  hear  you  to-day,  and  he  will 
be  here  in  a  few  minutes  to  see  you."  The  clerk  of  the  court, 
who  was  also  a  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  asked  my  opinion  of  phrenology.  Being  thus  called 
out  before  that  company,  I  said,  without  any  hesitation  at  all, 
that  I  had  not  the  least  confidence  in  it  as  a  science.  "  But," 
said  I,  "  for  the  sake  of  accommodating  the  present  company, 
I  will  admit  that  if  a  man  has  no  head  he  can  not  think.  But 
that  the  power  of  thought  on  all  subjects,  or  the  cast  of  char- 
acter, is  made  to  depend  upon  the  bumps  on  the  cranium,  is  a 
matter  which,  in  my  judgment,  lies  beyond  the  reach  of  proof. 
Some  of  the  finest  heads  I  ever  saw — taking  phrenology  for  my 
guide — I  have  found  on  the  shoulders  of  natural  fools;  and 
other  heads,  absolutely  under  phrenological  condemnation,  be- 
longed to  profound  philosophers,  statesmen,  and  divines;  so, 
when  a  pretended  science  contradicts  experience,  I  must  re- 
ject it." 

"I  wish,"  said  the  young  preacher,  "you  had  been  present 
to  hear  the  lectures  during  the  past  week ;  you  certainly  would 
have  been  convinced  that  phrenology  is  a  real,  substantial  sci- 
ence— as  truly  so  as  mathematics."  "Gentlemen,"  I  replied, 
"in  my  judgment,  phrenology  is  in  open  conflict  with  the  moral 
government  of  God.  It  is  certain,  according  to  the  Bible,  that 
truth,  justice,  benevolence — in  short,  religion,  is  required  of  us 
all.  It  is  also  certain  as  Holy  Writ  can  make  it,  that  through- 
out all  nature  God  has  indicated  his  designs.  He  need  not  give 
us  a  revelation  to  teach  us  the  use  of  the  eyes,  the  ears,  the 
teeth,  the  hands,  the  feet :  in  all  these,  and  in  other  cases,  the 
gift  indicates  the  intention  of  the  giver.  Now,  where  a  man,  in 
his  original  formation,  lacks  eyes,  ears,  or  teeth,  it  is  equally 
clear  that  God  does  not  intend  that  he  shall  see,  hear,  or  chew 
his  food.     And  it  is  just  as  clear,  too,  that  if  God,  in  any  man's 


300  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

original  formation,  has  given  him  no  organ  for  veracity,  he 
means  liim  to  be  a  liar;  if  he  has  given  him  no  organ  for  jus- 
tice, he  means  him  to  be  a  rogue ;  if  he  has  given  him  no  organ 
for  benevolence,  he  means  him  to  be  a  selfish  miser;  and  finally, 
to  include  all  this  in  one  thing,  if  Grod  has  given  him  no  de- 
velopment for  religion,  he  means  him  to  be  a  wicked  infidel. 
So  here  phrenology  and  God's  moral  government  are  in  con- 
flict, and  I  am  constrained  to  reject  the  former  because  it  can 
not  be  reconciled  with  the  latter. 

"Suppose  we  admit  all  this,"  said  the  young  preacher,  "edu- 
cation will  develop  all  these  organs  of  truth,  justice,  benevo- 
lence, etc."  "So,  then,"  I  answered,  "it  comes  to  this:  God's 
work,  in  forming  man's  cranium,  was  defective,  and  man,  by 
education,  is  to  improve  God's  work  and  make  man  capable  of 
morality  and  religion ;  thus,  in  all  cases  where  education  de- 
velops the  organs,  morality,  religion,  and  eternal  happines-s  are 
not  of  God,  but  of  man."  Just  at  this  juncture,  we  saw  the 
lecturer  coming  on  to  the  porch,  and  out  went  my  opponent,  to 
have  his  head  examined  scientificMlly .  When  dinner  was  over, 
the  rest  of  us  went  out.  The  young  preacher  cast  his  eye  on 
me,  and  said  to  the  phrenologist,  "This  man  don't  believe  in 
your  science."  At  this  the  individual  addressed  gave  me  a 
very  grave  look,  and  said,  "  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  be  open  to 
conviction."  "Yes,  sir,"  said  I,  "if  you  have  any  thing  to  con- 
vict me  with."  "What  kind  of  an  argument,"  he  asked,  "do 
you  want?"  I  replied,  "Fifty-one  years  have  now  passed  over 
me ;  by  this  time  I  may  be  supposed  to  have  a  tolerable  degree 
of  knowledge  of  my  own  character.  If  you  will  examine  my 
head  and  come  any  way  near  making  a  correct  estimate  of  my 
mental  and  moral  character,  I  will  be  an  unbeliever  no  longer." 
"Agreed,  sir,"  said  he;  and  I  sat  down  to  undergo  a  phreno- 
logical examination.  As  the  operator  progressed,  the  chart  was 
marked  carefully.  While  this  was  being  done,  I  saw  rather  a 
rough  class  of  people  collecting  about  us,  but  suspected  no  evil 
design.  When  all  was  over,  I  took  the  chart,  went  in  and 
seated  myself  at  the  back  window  of  the  dining-room,  to  over- 
haul the  marks,  and  see  what  kind  of  mental  and  moral  char- 


LUMBERMEN   AT    GOOSE   CREEK.  301 

acter  scientific  phrenology  had  given  me.  It  was  in  all  respects 
too  good.  I  came  out  too  great  a  man.  He  even  gave  me  ex- 
traordinary poetical  powers,  at  which  I  laughed  heartily.  Im- 
mediately the  crowd  came  in  to  inquire  "  what  I  thought  of 
phrenology  as  a  science?"  I  told  them  that,  "in  my  judgment, 
it  was  nothing  but  a  humhuc/.'"  Out  they  all  went,  and  in  about 
ten  minutes,  on  hearing  a  great  noise,  I  looked  out,  and  there 
went  the  phrenologist  on  horseback,  with  the  mob  after  him, 
hurling  sticks,  stones,  and  eggs,  and  making  a  furious  uproar. 
The  poor  fellow  was  flying  for  his  life,  with  his  hat  off  and 
his  saddle-bags  on  the  pommel  of  his  saddle,  crying  "Murder! 
murder!"  He  was  much  more  frightened  than  hurt.  Though 
I  did  not  believe  in  phrenology,  yet  I  always  abhorred  mobs, 
and  felt  afraid  that  I  had,  unintentionally,  had  some  influence 
in  getting  up  that  one.  I  found,  on  inquiry,  that  matters  had 
for  several  days  been  ripening  to  that  result,  and  when  I  pro- 
nounced phrenology  a  "humbug,"  it  was  the  last  drop  in  the 
cup  of  bitterness,  that  made  the  waters  overflow  and  sweep  the 
phrenologist  out  of  town. 

After  a  pretty  good  meeting  inllipley — somewhat  embittered 
by  the  fate  of  the  phrenologist — I  returned  to  the  river,  with 
my  borrowed  horse  in  better  plight,  and  the  road  in  better 
order,  and  preached  to  a  crowded  congregation  in  the  house 
of  my  old  friend  who  lent  me  the  horse.  The  next  morning 
I  returned  by  boat  to  Parkersburg,  to  go  on  my  way  to  the 
Greenbrier  country.  After  a  night's  rest  at  Parkersburg,  with 
James  Dagg — a  cousin  of  my  wife — who  had  taken  good  care 
of  "  Lize,"  I  was  off  early  the  next  morning  for  Weston,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  eighty-four  miles.  Traveling  on  the  Staunton 
pike  and  making  fine  speed,  I  came  to  Groose  Creek,  a  distance 
of  twenty  miles,  by  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.  About  one  quarter  of 
a  mile,  on  the  Parkersburg  side  of  said  creek,  I  saw  three  men 
in  the  road,  who  had  just  come  out  of  a  tavern,  all  very  drunk. 
Two  of  them  were  trying  to  put  the  third  one  on  a  very  poor 
horse,  with  high  hip-bones,  and  on  the  horse  there  was  an  old 
ragged  saddle.  I  drove  up  beside  them  and  halted,  to  witness 
the  effort.     They  had  him  by  a  leg  and  an  arm  on  each  side, 


302  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LITE. 

and  were  hoisting  away  io  get  him  into  the  saddle,  still  calling 
out  as  they  lifted,  "Are  ye  up  now,  John?"  "No,  not  yet," 
was  John's  reply.  Then  another  eiFort  was  made,  with  another 
call,  "Are  ye  up  now,  John?"  and  the  same  answer  was  made, 
"No,  not  yet."  After  taking  breath,  another  effort  was  made, 
and  John  was  thrown  into  the  saddle.  He  then  reached  for- 
ward over  the  pommel  of  the  saddle,  took  the  horse  round  the 
neck  with  his  arms,  and  rolled  as  if  about  to  fall  on  one  side 
or  the  other.  At  last,  with  his  leaden,  heavy  eyes,  he  gave  me 
a  real  drunkard's  look,  and  said,  "Who  the  d — 1  are  you?" 

"Grentlemen,"  said  I,  "is  this  Goose  Creek  I  am  coming  to?" 
One  of  them  swore  it  was  Goose  Creek.  Said  I,  "Is  there  not 
a  toll-gate  at  the  creek?"  With  an  oath,  one  of  them  replied 
that  there  was,  and  coming  right  up,  he  demanded  toll  of  me. 
"  It  will  be  time  enough  to  pay,"  said  I,  "when  I  get  to  the 
gate,  which  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead."  But  he  contested 
the  point  stoutly,  with  oaths,  insisting  upon  immediate  payment 
of  toll.  "Come,  my  good  fellows,"  said  I,  "when  I  pass  the 
gate  I'll  pay  my  toll,  and  not  before."  Then  said  I,  "Is  there 
not  a  man  living  about  half  a  mile  up  this  creek  by  the  name 
of  Thornton?"  Then  one  of  them,  with  both  hands  and  his 
right  foot  lifted  up,  and  an  oath  in  his  mouth,  said,  "That  man 
married  my  sister."  Just  then  one  of  them  came  near,  laid 
his  hand  on  "Lize's"  mane,  looked  up  in  my  face,  and  said, 
"x\-a-a-aint  you  a  preacher?"  "Yes,  sir,"  said  I,  "that  is  my 
calling;  I  try  to  do  a  little  in  that  way."  "Well,  sir,"  said  he, 
"  if  a  body  might  make  so  free,  wha-wha-wha-what  Church  do 
ye  belong  to?"  "The  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  sir,"  said 
I.  Then  lifting  up  both  hands  and  one  foot,  with  great  vehe- 
mence he  said,  "Be  d — d  if  I  don't  b'loug  to  the  same  Church 
myself."  So  there  I  was,  right  among  the  brethren,  for  they 
all  claimed  to  "belong  to  the  same  Church." 

Immediately  they  all  got  at  me  to  stop  in  the  neighborhood 
and  preach,  saying  that  just  beyond  the  creek  they  had  a  h — 1 
of  a  fine  meeting-house,  and  if  I  would  only  allow  them,  they 
would  circulate  the  appointment,  and  get  me  one  of  the  d — dest 
congregations  that  any  man  had  ever  preached  to  in  all  that 


APPOINTMENT   AT   MORRISON's.  303 

country.  I  excused  myself,  as  lucking  time,  and  drove  on  to 
Thornton's  for  dinner.  I  liave  given  this  narrative  just  about 
as  the  facts  occurred,  deeming  all  the  various  phases  of  human 
nature  capable  of  ministering  instruction.  I  found,  on  inquiry, 
that  these  men  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church;  that  before  they  joined  the  Church  they  had  all  been 
very  intemperate ;  that  they  were  hard-working  lumbermen,  and 
had,  generally,  since  they  became  members  of  the  Church,  con- 
ducted themselves  with  sobriety;  but  that  sometimes,  when 
they  went  down  the  river  with  lumber,  they  came  back  in  what 
■was  called  a  "spree."  When  they  got  sober,  confessions  and 
promises  of  amendment  were  made  by  them  to  the  Church,  and 
it  was  deemed  best  still  to  allow  them  to  retain  their  member- 
ship, in  order,  if  possible,  to  save  them.  (Query :  was  not  this, 
under  all  the  circumstances,  the  better  way?)  In  them  the  vir- 
tuous principle  was  in  a  perjjetual  struggle  against  an  old, 
vicious  habit.  To  have  excommunicated  them  would  certainly 
have  been  their  ruin.  To  bear  with  them,  and  keep  the  bond 
of  Church  obligations  upon  them,  was,  in  all  probability,  the 
only  way  to  save  them.  Yet,  after  all,  great  care  should  be 
taken,  and  the  lenity  of  the  Church  should  only  be  extended 
when  it  is  in  evidence  that  persevering  efforts  are  being  made 
to  overcome  evil  habits. 

At  Weston  I  left  my  bugg}',  took  to  my  saddle,  and  went  on 
to  my  appointment  at  Morrison's,  on  Braxton  Circuit.  There 
I  met  with  Rev.  John  Hardman,  who,  with  Dr.  Williams,  agreed 
to  accompany  me  through  the  mountain  ranges,  to  the  Green- 
brier 'eamp-meeting.  The  meeting  at  Morrison's  was  quite  fruit- 
ful in  conversions  and  in  the  general  edification  of  the  Church. 
When  we  started  for*tjreenbrier,  it  was  found  by  Hardman  and 
I  that  Dr.  Williams  ^'' had  an  ax  to  grinds  In  that  case  I 
could  not  help  him ;  but  Hardman  did,  by  carrying  his  saddle- 
bags full  of  the  Doctor's  books.  When  we  started,  "Now," 
said  brother  Morrison  to  the  Doctor,  who  was  his  nephew,  "  do 
you  take  these  brethren  to  the  house  of  my  daughter  to-night, 
one  mile  off  from  the  main  road,  seven  miles  this  side  of-tNich- 
olaa  Court-house.    There  they  will  be  comfortably  entertained." 


304  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

That  day,  in  a  cabin  b^-  the  wayside,  we  made  our  dinner  on 
rough  corn-bread  and  very  sour  buttermilk.  Toward  sundown, 
"Now,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  1 11  turn  off  here,  and  spend  the  night 
with  my  cousin,  and  overtake  you  in  the  morning,  before  you 
leave  Nicholas  Court-house."  This  roused  our  indignation, 
for  we  thought,  according  to  the  instructions  of  his  uncle,  we 
were  all  to  go  to  his  cousin's.  To  be  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  the  Doctor  was  treating  us  unfairly,  and  to  have  his  books 
to  carry  too,  was  rather  galling  on  brother  Hardman,  with  whom 
I  felt  no  little  sympathy.  We  both  regarded  Williams  as  a 
tricky  doctor.  A  little  after  dark  we  reached  the  village  and 
put  up  at  a  tavern,  ate  a  hearty  supper,  and  sat  up  late,  to  let 
the  digestive  process  go  forward.  So,  after  a  good  night's  rest, 
we  were  up  early,  had  breakfast,  and  waited  for  the  Doctor  until 
eight  o'clock ;  but  he  did  not  come.  From  the  Court-house, 
through  that  vast  range  of  mountains,  to  Greenbrier,  we  had  no 
road — nothing  but  a  blind  path — no  Doctor  to  be  our  guide,  as 
promised  ;  and  Hardman  was  carrying  that  man's  books  !  What 
a  bore ! 

Without  a  guide,  we  sat  out,  determining  to  find  the  mount- 
ain-path, if  possible,  independently  of  Dr.  Williams.  In  four 
miles,  we  came  to  the  Gauley  River,  an  exceedingly  rapid 
stream.  Under  cover  of  an  island,  in  a  very  small  ferry-boat, 
we  went  up  a  great  distance,  to  take  the  shoot  for  the  other 
shore.  If  we  missed  the  landing,  we  should  be  dashed  against 
rocks,  for  there  was  but  the  one  place  to  get  out.  Our  horses 
were  very  much  seared  at  the  noise  of  that  thundering  rivei*, 
and  could  scarcely  be  held  in  the  boat.  But  the  ferryman  un- 
derstood his  business  well,  and  made  the  landing  in  safety.  So, 
paying  him  forty  cents  each,  and  thanking  him  kindly  for  his 
skillful  management,  we  betook  ourselves  to  the  path  of  the 
mountains.  That  day  we  traveled  hard,  got  very  hungry,  but 
found  no  place  for  refreshment.  At  last  we  met  four  hunters, 
with  three  horses  loaded  with  four  deer,  which  they  had  killed 
at  a  deer-lick.  They  told  us  of  a  house,  about  ten  miles  ahead, 
where  we  might  possibly  get  entertainment  for  the  night.     On 


ADVENTURES   IN   THE   MOUNTAINS.  805 

we  went,  hungry  enough,  men  and  horses  all  jaded  down.  Those 
were  ten  long,  weary  miles. 

Finally,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  we  found,  in  a 
gap  in  the  mountains,  the  place  named  by  the  hunters,  and 
there  we  put  up  for  the  night.  It  was  an  unpromising  place 
in  appearance ;  but  to  go  the  remaining  fourteen  miles  across 

the  mountains  was  impossible.      That  place  was  called  C 's 

Tavern.  It  was  a  mere  cabin,  with  one  room,  and  a  little  shanty 
at  one  end  of  it  for  a  kitchen.  After  seeing  the  horses  get  a 
little  hay,  I  called  for  supper,  and  told  the  lady  of  the  house 
we  both  desired  tea.  "God  bless  you,"  said  she,  "there  is  not 
an  ounce  of  tea  in  all  this  county."  "Well,  now,"  said  I,  "if 
you  have  n't  any,  I  have,  and  sugar  too."  So,  opening  my  sad- 
dle-bags, I  handed  her  the  tea  and  sugar,  of  which,  to  all  ap- 
pearance, she  took  out  plentifully,  and  returned  the  balance  to 
me.  Then  we  waited,  with  as  much  patience  as  hunger  would 
allow,  for  our  suppers ;  but,  seeing  no  favorable  signs,  we  went 
out  to  a  peach-tree,  but  the  fruit  (it  being  October)  was  hard 
and  bitter ;  so  we  failed  in  this  resort.  Returning  to  the  house, 
we  continued  to  wait.  Finally,  the  table  was  drawn  out,  the 
cloth  laid  on,  and  a  saucer,  with  something  in  it  intended  for 
butter — but  it  looked  like  bear's  oil — was  placed  upon  it ;  then 
came  the  plates  and  tea  things.  At  these  promising  signs  our 
appetites  were  whetted  up  to  the  highest  degree.  But  still  we 
were  doomed  to  wait  awhile  longer.  Ultimately  came  a  plate 
of  corn-dodgers,  to  appearance  finely  baked,  and,  last  of  all,  a 
shoulder  of  bear-meat  in  a  large  dish.  We  were  then  invited 
10   the   table.      When   the   blessing  was    asked,  then   said    the 

woman — who  had  taken  the  place  in  that  house  of  Mrs.  C , 

a  banished  wife — "Gentlemen,  I  owe  you  an  apology;  I  have 
spilt  your  tea,  and  have  nothing  for  you  in  place  of  it  but 
warm  water."  "Why,  madam,"  said  I,  "why  did  you  not  come 
and  get  more?  You  knew  I  had  plenty."  "0,"  said  she,  "I 
was  ashamed."  (The  history  of  this  woman,  as  I  got  it  after- 
ward, would  indicate  that  she  was  incapable  of  shame.)  That 
bear-meat  was  so  black,  and  coarse,  and  hard,  and  tough,  with 


306  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

such  an  offensive  smell,  that  I  could  not  eat  it,  and  but  for  the 
hunger  I  felt,  I  could  not  have  remained  at  the  table  where  it 
was.  My  old  friend  Ilardman — in  former  years  a  great  bear- 
hunter — ate  of  it  freely,  but  found  afterward,  to  his  cost,  that 
his  stomach  had  not  the  power  to  digest  it ;  so  he  became  sick 
from  his  bear-meat  supper.  My  supper  was  made  exclusively 
on  corn-dodgers  and  warm  water  well  sweetened. 

That  night,  about  nine  o'clock,  in  came  about  twelve  men,  all 
dark,  suspicious-looking  fellows.  Hardman  and  I  were  much 
concerned  at  their  appearance,  supposing  them  to  be  a  band  of 
robbers.  Their  whole  manner  indicated  their  character.  They 
talked  together  here  and  there,  in  little  companies,  and  we  could 
hear  them  talking  of  us,  as  being  the  very  men  they  had  seen 
back  in  the  mountains.  Finally,  they  quit  talking  among  them- 
selves, and  came  to  us,  and  desired  to  be  informed  what  busi- 
ness we  were  on — whether  purchasing  land,  or  cattle,  or  some- 
thing else.  I  at  once  told  them,  "We  are  two  Methodist 
preachers,  on  our  way  from  Braxton  County  over  to  Greenbrier,  \f 
to  attend  a  camp-meeting."  When  these  words  were  uttered, 
up  started  a  small,  crooked  man,  who  had  come  in  unobserved, 
and  seated  himself  in  a  corner,  and  said,  "Yes,  that  camp- 
meeting  will  commence  to-morrow,  on  the  land  of  Richard  Wil- 
liams. I  left  his  house  this  morning,  and  they  were  all  busy 
making  preparations  for  the  meeting."  The  confirmatory  testi- 
mony of  that  stranger,  given  in  the  nick  of  time,  I  have  no 
doubt  saved  us  from  the  hands  of  the  gang.  They  gave  the 
matter  up,  seemed  disappointed,  but  let  us  alone. 

I  then  said  to  the  proprietor  of  the  house,  "  It  is  my  custom, 
wherever  I  tarry  for  a  night,  to  pray  with  the  family,  if  it  is 
found  to  be  agreeable.  Will  you,  sir,  allow  me  the  privilege  of 
praying  to  God  in  your  family?"  "Certainly,  sir,"  was  the 
reply.  "Then,"  said  I,  "have  you  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures in  your  house?  I  usually  read  a  portion  of  the  Word  of 
God  before  family  prayer."  He  said  he  "  thought  there  was." 
After  a  long  search,  he  found  a  part  of  the  New  Testament,  on 
an  upper  shelf  of  an  old  corner  cupboard,  and  handed  it  to  me. 
After  reading,  with  a  strong,  full  voice,  a  most  lovely  chaj)ter — 


HAIN   IN   THE   MOUNTAINS.  307 

the  fourth  of  the  Eijhesians — I  said,  "  Now  let  us  all  kneel 
down  before  the  Lord  and  pray."  All  obeyed  the  request,  and 
went  to  their  knees.  That  was  a  most  solemn  season  of  earn- 
est, feeling,  pleading  prayer.  When  it  was  over,  I  felt  no  more 
fears  of  either  men  or  devils.  While  I  prayed,  God  gave  me  a 
firm  confidence  in  his  almighty  protection.  Hardman  and  I 
went  to  bed,  and  the  gang  slept  on  the  floor  in  the  same  room, 
and  nothing  disturbed  our  rest  throughout  the  night. 

In  the  morning  early  we  left  those  men  all  fast  asleep  on 
the  floor,  and  were  ofi"  for  the  camp-meeting,  in  a  very  heavy 
rain.  In  a  short  time,  as  we  ascended  out  of  the  gap  of  the 
mountains  to  the  higher  regions,  the  rain  became  finer  and 
finer,  until  at  last  we  were  fully  in  the  cloud,  enveloped  by  a 
dark  mist  which  floated  slowly  over  the  mountain,  with  no  de- 
scending rain  at  all.  After  traveling  on  the  higher  land  some 
distance,  we  began  to  descend  into  another  gap.  Shortly  we  were 
in  the  fine  rain,  which  became  coarser  and  coarser,  until  we  got 
fully  under  the  cloud,  which  lay  like  a  bridge  across  the  gap 
from  peak  to  peak :  there  the  rain  was  falling  in  torrents,  and 
the  darkness  was  not  so  great.  When  we  again  went  up  out  of 
the  gap  into  the  cloud,  and  reached  the  highest  point  of  fine 
rain,  with  our  umbrellas  over  us,  there  we  stopped  to  examine 
into  the  works  of  God — to  see,  if  we  could,  the  attraction  of 
the  aqueous  particles  so  as  to  form  drops  of  rain.  But  this 
operation  was  so  minute  as  entirely  to  elude  our  visual  pene- 
tration. Where  the  cloud  melted  into  rain  we  could  not  dis- 
tinctly see.  God  not  only  hides  many  of  his  works  from  us, 
but  he  hides  himself  in  his  works;  yet  his  works  reveal  his 
being  and  his  glory.  He  is  in  all  places,  to  give  efi'eet  to  all 
the  laws  of  nature  established  by  himself. 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  came  to  Martin's,  be- 
yond the*'Meadow  River,  got  a  good  breakfast,  and  were  over- 
taken by  Dr.  Williams.  He  came  up  just  in  time  to  be  our  guide 
when  we  were  through  the  wilderness,  and  felt  that  we  could  do 
very  well  without  him.  We  did  not  regard  him  afterward  as 
one  of  us,  and  had  very  little  sociality  with  him.  That  even- 
ing we  reached  the  camp-meeting.      Hardman  was  yet  sick  from 


308  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

that  indigestible  bear-meat  supper  eaten  in  the  gap  of  the 
mountains,  and  went  to  Richard  Williams's  for  medical  assist- 
ance. I  remained  on  the  camp-ground  and  preached  the  open- 
ing sermon  to  a  very  attentive  audience,  but  was  much  inter- 
rupted by  the  crying  of  children.  Crying  children  and  barking 
dogs  did  not  disturb  the  people  of  that  country,  but  it  was  not 
so  with  me.  A  good  state  of  civilization,  to  say  nothing  of  re- 
ligion, ought  to  be  an  eflfectual  guarantee  against  all  such  an- 
noyances at  a  place  of  public  worship.  Yet,  it  will  not  do  to 
measure  all  people  by  the  same  standard.  At  that  camp-meet- 
ing there  certainly  were  a  goodly  number  of  plain,  earnest 
Christians.  A  holy  unction  attended  the  preaching,  many  sin- 
ners were  converted,  and  the  Church,  notwithstanding  the  cry- 
ing of  children  and  barking  of  dogs,  was  greatly  revived. 

In  a  tent  adjoining  the  one  occupied  by  the  preachers,  where 
several  of  the  ladies  had  met  to  smoke  and  talk,  I  overheard, 
as  I  lay  in  my  bed,  a  conversation  which  very  much  amused 
me,  concerning  my  inability  to  preach  among  crying  children. 
"Did  you  not  see,"  said  one  of  the  ladies,  "that  Mr.  Brown 
had  to  stop  altogether  when  that  little  boy  bawled  so  in  the 
altar,  and  while  the  dogs  back  of  the  stand  were  barking?" 
"Yes,"  said  another;  "he  is  no  such  a  preacher  as  brother  Hel- 
mick,  though  he  is  President."  Then  another  said,  "Brother 
Helmick  would  never  have  minded  the  noise  if  he  had  been 
there."  "0,"  said  another,  "brother  Helmick  is  the  greatest 
preacher  I  ever  heard  in  all  my  life ;  I  have  heard  him  preach 
where  there  were  a  dozen  children  in  the  congregation,  all  bawl- 
ing as  loud  as  that  boy  in  the  altar  to-night,  and  he  never 
minded  it,  but  went  right  on  ! "  I  think  that  woman  must  have 
exaggerated.  How  could  brother  Helmick  have  hoped  to  do 
any  good  while  preaching  to  a  congregation  where  there  were 
one  dozen  of  crying  children  ?  Such  meetings  are  disorderly. 
At  any  rate,  the  case  is  given  as  it  occurred,  because  all  sides 
of  human  nature  deserve  to  be  seen.  My  silent  reproof  did 
good.  We  were  not  much  troubled  afterward  with  crying  chil- 
dren. When  the  meeting  was  over,  Hardman  and  I  returned 
by  Huntersville   and  Beverly  to  Weston  j   from  which  point  1 


A  MEETING-nOUSE    MOVED    IN   A   STOKM.  309 

again  traveled  in  my  bnp'gy,  wliicli  I  found  the  easier  way  for 
me  to  get  through  the  country. 

In  September,  1834,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in 
^--Fairmont,  Virginia,  and  was  handsomely  entertained  by  the 
Churches  and  citizens.  The  impression  on  the  community  in 
favor  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  was  good,  as  it  was 
there  seen  that  the  lay  delegation  system  worked  well,  and  that 
we  had  a  valuable  body  of  ministers.  Again  I  was  elected 
President,  and  had  another  year  of  hard  labor  on  the  Pitts- 
burgh District.  To  give  in  detail  the  occurrences  of  this  year 
will  not  be  necessary ;  a  few  incidents  only  will  be  given.  As 
iisual,  the  centi-al  portion  of  the  district  was  visited  during  the 
fall  and  winter.  Early  in  the  spring,  I  made  a  tour  through 
the  river  counties  of  Western  Virginia.  While  preaching  at 
Harrisville,  in  a  large  frame,  unfinished  meeting-house,  on  the 
Sabbath-day,  at  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.,  there  came  on  a  most 
fearful  storm  of  wind,  rain,  hail,  thunder,  and  lightning.  The 
violence  of  the  tempest  increased  for  about  twenty  minutes. 
During  all  that  time,  the  congregation,  which  was  very  large, 
looked  pale  and  terror-stricken,  and  seemed  inclined  to  fly  to 
some  place  for  safety.  But  it  was  about  one-half  mile  to  town, 
and  there  was  danger  from  the  falling  timber,  there  being  many 
trees  in  that  vicinity.  All  concluded,  finally,  to  remain.  I 
ceased  to  preach  while  God  walked  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
glanced  the  lightning  flash  of  his  eye  upon  us,  rocked  the 
world  with  the  thundering  artillery  of  heaven,  and,  with  his 
mighty  hail,  startled  every  living  creature.  How  terrible  was 
that  storm!  How  critical  was  that  moment!  All  hearts  were 
lifted  up  to  God  in  solemn  prayer  for  safety.  At  last  came  the 
final  mighty  rush  of  the  tempest,  and  moved  the  meeting-house, 
with  that  large  congregation  in  it,  about  eight  inches  on  its  foun- 
dation I  Every  joint  in  that  frame  house  creaked  as  if  all  were 
going  to  pieces.  The  congregation  started  up  in  expectation  of 
a  general  ruin.  But  in  a  few  moments  the  Master  hushed  the 
tempest,  and,  behold,  there  was  a  great  calm!  My  discourse 
was  resumed  and  finished ;  then  followed  the  holy  communion. 
It  was  a  time  of  great  mercy  to  us  all.     Never,  while  memory 


310  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

lasts,  can  I  forget  tliat  storm,  or  the  solemnity  inspired  by  the 
terrible  majesty  of  God  on  that  occasion. 

Such  a  storm  brings  to  mind  the  18th  Psalm:  "Then  the 
earth  shook  and  trembled  ;  the  foundations  also  of  the  hills 
moved  and  were  shaken,  because  he  was  wroth.  There  went 
up  a  smoke  out  of  his  nostrils,  and  fire  out  of  his  mouth  de- 
voured: coals  were  kindled  by  it.  He  bowed  the  heavens  also, 
and  came  down:  and  darkness  was  under  his  feet.  lie  made 
darkness  his  secret  place ;  his  pavilion  round  about  him  were 
dark  waters,  and  thick  clouds  of  the  skies.  At  the  brightness 
that  was  before  him  his  thick  clouds  passed,  hail-stones  and 
coals  of  fire.  The  Lord  also  thundered  in  the  heavens,  and  the 
Highest  gave  his  voice;  hail-stones  and  coals  of  fire.  Yea,  he 
sent  out  his  arrows,  and  scattered  them ;  and  he  shot  out  light- 
nings, and  discomfited  them.  Then  the  channels  of  waters  were 
seen,  and  the  foundations  of  the  world  were  discovered  at  thy 
rebuke,  0  Lord,  at  the  blast  of  the  breath  of  thy  nostrils." 

Having  visited  the  Susquehanna  part  of  the  district  in  the 
summer  of  that  year,  on  horseback,  I  returned  to  Indiana, 
Pennsylvania,  where  I  had  left  my  buggy.  On  my  way  from 
thence — through  Kittanning  to  the  circuits  up  toward  Lake 
Erie — in  a  very  narrow  lane,  I  met  a  drove  of  frightened  cattle, 
running  about  up  to  the  top  of  their  speed.  They  were  young 
stock  cattle,  about  three  hundred  in  number,  not  yet  broken  to 
the  road.  They  came  from  a  wood-covered  hill,  to  the  right  of 
the  mouth  of  the  lane.  The  noise  made  by  their  running,  be- 
fore they  came  in  sight,  threw  my  faithful  "Lize"  into  a  ter- 
rible fright,  and  set  her  to  snorting  and  prancing;  but,  finding 
myself  in  a  low  place  in  the  lane  washed  out  by  the  rain,  I 
could  not  turn  back  or  get  into  a  corner  of  the  fence;  so  I  had 
to  face  the  danger,  fearful  as  it  was. 

Immediately  the  cattle  appeared  in  sighi,  and  came  pitching 
down  the  hill.  As  they  entered  the  lane,  filling  it  from  side 
to  side,  and  came  rushing  fearfully  on,  the  indications  were  that 
my  whole  establishment  would  be  a  wreck  before  the  cattle  were 
passed.  But  I  knew  "  Lize,"  in  times  of  alarm,  had,  in  many 
instances,  been  quieted  by  my  taking  the  bridle  and  standing 


CAMP-MEETINa    AT    COXNEAUT.  311 

at  her  head  until  the  danger  was  passed.  So  I  leaped  from  my 
seat  in  the  buggy,  took  hold  of  the  bridle  close  up  to  her  chin 
with  my  left  hand;  then,  with  the  whip  in  my  right  hand,  I 
fought  off  the  cattle  to  the  right  and  left,  shouting  and  halloo- 
ing with  all  the  voice  I  had.  "Lize,"  during  the  time  the 
cattle  were  passing,  was  perfectly  quiet,  though  they  raked  the 
buggy  on  each  side,  and  the  fence  likewise  on  both  sides  of  the 
lane.  When  the  danger  was  over,  I  felt  thankful  to  God  for 
presence  of  mind  all  the  time,  and  for  having  preserved  me  from 
all  harm — man,  horse,  buggy,  all  safe !  What  a  mercy  !  Then 
came  the  men  who  drove  the  cattle,  and  offered  their  hearty 
congratulations.  They  had  witnessed  my  danger  from  the  hill, 
and  said  they  saw  no  way  for  my  escape,  and  expected  man, 
horse,  buggy,  and  all  to  be  crushed.  As  no  injury  was  sus- 
tained, we  all  thanked  God  together  for  the  merciful  preserva- 
tion. On  looking  over  this  interposition  of  Providence,  I  have 
felt  like  saying,  with  David,  "  Thy  righteousness  is  like  the 
great  mountains;  thy  judgments  are  a  gi"eat  deep;  0  Lord,  thou 
preservest  man  and  beast" — yes,  and  the  buggy  likewise — all 
saved  by  the  Lord. 

When  this  whole  affair  was  past,  I  found  that  I  had  been  very 
much  excited,  for  I  was  trembling  and  exhausted,  and  hardly 
able  to  remount  the  buggy  to  pursue  my  journey.  Such,  how- 
ever, has  been  my  experience  from  early  life.  In  danger  I  have 
been  cool  and  collected,  but  when  the  danger  was  past  there 
came  a  sense  of  exhaustion.  Were  I  a  soldier  in  battle,  how  I 
should  fight  I  can  not  venture  to  say  but;  if  not  slain  by  the 
enemy,  I  might  die  of  ex,haustion  when  the  battle  was  over. 

After  spending  two  hours  in  Kittanning,  I  came  to  Butler 
by  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles  from  In- 
diana. This  was  fast  traveling  over  a  hilly  country.  The  next 
day  I  passed  on  to  the  Conneaut  camp-meeting.  That  meet- 
ing was  good  throughout :  sinners  were  converted,  and  the  cause 
of  Christ  advanced  in  that  community.  As  usual,  I  was  called 
on,  by  a  rising  vote  of  the  Sunday  congi'egation,  for  a  lecture  on 
Church  government,  which  I  accordingly  delivered  on  Monday 
afternoon,  to  an  unusually  large  audience.     The  New  Lights  of 


312  RECOLLECTIONS    OP    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

that  vicinity  were  there  in  full  force,  with  their  preacher,  to  hear 
me  deal  with  the  arbitrary  principles  of  the  government  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Their  minister,  who  was  a  tal- 
ented man  of  good  standing  in  the  community,  had  moved  the 
congregation  to  call  for  a  lecture.  Of  course  I  had  to  remem- 
ber him  and  his  Church  in  my  lecture,  for  they,  professing  to 
take  the  Bible  alone  as  their  rule,  went  against  all  creeds,  con- 
fessions of  faith,  and  Church  discipline  made  by  men.  So  I 
placed  the  New  Lights,  who  opposed  all  human  regulation  in 
Church  government,  on  one  extreme ;  and  the  Episcopal  Meth- 
odists, in  whose  ecclesiastical  economy  all  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  power  and  authority  was  claimed  as  of  divine 
right  by  the  itinerant  clergy,  on  the  other.  Then  the  ground 
occupied  by  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  was  shown  to  lie 
between  these  two  extremes,  securing  effectually  the  Mutual 
Rights  of  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  entire  Church. 

In  that  lecture  I  aimed  to  convince  the  New  Lights  that, 
taking  the  New  Testament  to  be  the  grand  constitution  of  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven  set  up  in  the  world,  some  by-laws,  under 
the  constitution,  either  written  or  unwritten,  such  as  human 
reason  could  frame,  were  necessary,  in  order  to  carry  out  Chris- 
tianity into  practical  operation  among  men ;  and  that  these  by- 
laws, which  were  all  we  meant  by  Church  government,  should 
always  be  printed  in  a  book  and  be  circulated  among  the  people, 
so  that  they  could  be  read  and  known  of  all  men.  Unwritten 
rules  always  render  Church  operations  very  uncertain,  as  they 
might  be  twisted  any  way  to  suit  the  whim  or  ambition  of 
popular  leaders.  The  New  Light  minister,  seated  right  in 
front  of  the  stand,  nodded  assent  to  all  I  said,  and  I  did  hope 
that  good  would  result  to  him  and  his  people,  from  that 
lecture. 

I  then  brought  into  view  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
government,  as  occupying  the  other  extreme;  as  being  too 
strong;  as  placing  in  itinerant  hands  all  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive  power;  all  creed- making,  property-controlling, 
member-receiving,  member-expelling,  ofl&ce-making,  officer-ap- 
pointing, officer-removing  power,  etc.,  in  the  whole  heaven  and 


LECTURE    ON   CHURCH    GOVERNMENT.  313 

earth  of  the  government,  leaving  nothing  to  the  local  preachers 
and  lay  members  but  absolute  submission  to  their  will  or  ex- 
patriation from  the  Church.  Against  this  I  argued  as  being 
Roman  Catholic  in  its  character,  contrary  to  the  teachings  of 
the  New  Testament,  contrary  to  Lord  King's  Account  of  the 
Primitive  Church,  contrary  to  Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History, 
and  contrary  to  the  American  Bill  of  Rights,  as  well  as  injuri- 
ous to  the  liberties  of  mankind.  A  people  educated  to  rever- 
ence such  a  Church  government  would  find  no  great  difficulty 
in  exchanging  our  republic  for  a  monarchy. 

I  then  affirmed  the  Methodist  Protestant  principle  to  be 
this  :  that  the  Church  of  Christ  has  as  much  right  to  a  free 
representative  government  as  the  United  States,  and  that  to  be 
monarchists  in  the  Church  and  republicans  in  the  State  involves 
a  contradiction  which  every  lover  of  civil  liberty  in  the  land 
should  make  haste  to  put  away.  I  then  showed  a  similarity 
between  the  Book  of  Nature  and  the  Book  of  Grace;  that  the 
"inalienable  rights"  seen  by  our  Revolutionary  fathers  in  the 
Book  of  Nature  had  an  exact  parallel  in  the  teachings  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  in  the  New  Testament.  If  it  be  true,  as  our 
Methodist  Episcopal  brethren  affirm,  that  the  Holy  Scriptures 
only  give  us  the  principles,  and  not  the  form,  of  Church  govern- 
melit,  then  it  follows,  with  all  the  strength  of  a  logical  conclusion, 
that  they  were  not  obliged  by  the  oracles  of  Grod  to  adopt  their 
form  of  ecclesiastical  economy,  by  which  the  rights  of  the  laity 
are  so  completely  ignored.  The  men  who  took  upon  themselves 
the  task  of  giving  Methodism  a  government  in  this  country 
were  P^uropeans;  so  they  established  the  only  kind  of  govern- 
ment familiar  to  their  minds — an  ecclesiastical  monarchy ;  and  it 
never  suited  the  American  people,  as  the  various  efforts  to  have 
it  amended,  followed  by  disruptions  from  the  bod}^,  will  abund- 
antly declare. 

The  self-evident  truths  contained  in  the  American  Bill  of 
Rights  are  such  as  the  following:  "God  hath  created  all  men 
equal,  and  hath  given  them  certain  inalienable  rights,  such  as 
the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  a  pursuit  of  happiness.  That  to 
secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men, 
20 


314  RECOLLECTIONS    OP   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 
In  this  way  did  our  Revolutionary  sires  read  and  understand 
the  Book  of  Nature.  Now,  if  the  God  of  Grace  is  not  against  the 
God  of  Nature,  there  will  be  principles  found  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment— which  is  the  Book  of  Grace — in  exact  agreement  with 
those  found  in  the  Bill  of  Rights.  See  the  following:  "We 
have  one  Father,  even  God;"  "we  are  also  his  offspring" — 
equally  near  and  dear  to  him,  and  upon  one  common  level  among 
ourselves.  All  are  equal  in  the  fall — "all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God."  All  are  equal  in  redemption — 
"  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  grace  of  God,  hath  tasted  death  for  every 
man."  All  are  placed  under  spiritual  treatment — "I  will  pour 
out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh;"  "the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit 
is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal."  All  are  equally  eligi- 
ble to  salvation,  if  they  repent  and  believe  in  Christ ;  all  equally 
liable  to  be  lost  without  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ;  all  are 
held  to  a  just  account  at  last — "  So,  then,  every  one  of  us  shall 
give  account  of  himself  to  God."  After  this  manner,  and  with 
many  other  arguments  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  other 
sources,  did  I,  in  that  lecture,  sustain  the- position  that  "the 
Church  of  Christ  had  as  much  right  to  a  free  representative 
government  as  the  United  States,  and  that  to  be  monarchists  in 
the  Church  and  republicans  in  the  State  does  involve  a  contra- 
diction which  every  lover  of  civil  liberty  in  the  land  should 
make  haste  to  put  away."  I  was  calm  and  respectful  to  all  par- 
ties, and  the  lecture  evidently  made  a  strong  impression  in  favor 
of  our  cherished  doctrine  of  "  Mutual  Rights." 

It  is  to  be  deeply  regretted  that  the  preachers  now  holding 
the  foreground  in  our  itinerant  ranks  know  so  little  of  the  con- 
troversy which  resulted  in  the  expulsion  of  many  of  the  cham- 
pions of  ecclesiastical  liberty  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  thereby  necessitated  the  org-anization  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church.  Their  knowledge  of  the  doctrinal, 
experimental,  and  practical  truths  of  Christianity,  generally 
speaking,  is  admitted,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  thanksgiving  to  God 
that  they  are  thereby  enabled  to  build  up  Scriptural  Christianity 
in  the  land.     But  for  want  of  a  competent  knowledge  of  the 


LECTURE    ON   CHURCH    GOVERNMENT.  315 

controversy  in  question,  and  of  ecclesiastical  history  in  general, 
the  testimony  of  our  Church  in  favor  of  mutual  rights,  and 
against  all  manner  of  despotism  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  has 
been  measurably  dropped,  to  the  injury  of  our  cause.  If  our 
principles  were  right  at  first,  they  are  right  now,  and  should 
be  faithfully,  intelligently,  and  powerfully  advocated  by  our 
preachers  every-where.  Christianity  in  all  its  parts  is  aggress- 
ive, and  the  war  of  truth  against  error  should  be  eternal.  Prot- 
estantism has  never  droj)ped  its  testimony  against  Popery,  nor 
should  our  Church  ever  drop  her  testimony  against  the  Popery 
of  Methodism.  When  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  admits 
lay  delegation  into  practicalf  and  efficient  oj^eration  in  all  her 
official  bodies,  and  enfranchises  her  people  with  all  the  immu- 
nities of  ecclesiastical  freedom,  then  should  our  testimony  cease, 
and  not  before;  for  to  us  is  this  great  work  committed  of 
spreading  the  Christian  religion  and  religious  liberty  all  over 
these  and  other  lands,  as  fast  and  as  far  as  God,  in  his  provi- 
dence, may  open  our  way,  and  all  our  preachers  should  be  quali- 
fied for  the  e;reat  work  assigned  them. 


316  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITESTERANT   LIFE. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Appointed  Conference  Missionart— General  Conference  tn  Cincinnati— A  Quar- 
terly Meetink  among  the  Colored  People— Pittsburgh  Conference  Held  in  Al- 
LKGHANY- Elected  President— Public  Discussions  on  Church  Government  with 
Methodist  Episcopal  Ministers— Conference  at  Waynesburgh,  Pennsylvania— 
Ke-electbd  President— a  Sketch  of  Border-Life  in  Western  Virginia. 

In  August,  1845,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in  Con- 
nellsville,  Pennsylvania,  and  I  was  appointed  Conference  Mis- 
sionary, with  the  understanding  that  I  was  to  work  at  such  times 
ajid  places  as  would  be  most  favorable  to  my  health,  for  hard 
labor  on  the  district  had  nearly  prostrated  my  physical  energies, 
That  was  a  very  pleasant  and  interesting  Conference.  It  was 
well  sustained,  and  highly  appreciated  by-  the  citizens.  But 
Rev.  T.  H.  Stockton's  sermon,  splendidly  eloquent  as  it  was, 
gave  some  offense  to  the  Masons.  They  were  not  by  any  means 
gratified  at  being  compared  to  "owls  and  bats  and  other  doleful 
birds  of  night,"  by  a  man  who,  in  the  nature  of  things,  knew 
nothing  certainly  about  them  or  their  institution.  Why  inflict 
censure  and  contumely  on  an  institution  and  an  order  of  men 
when,  in  his  own  confession,  he  knew  nothing  about  them? 
These  hits  in  the  dark  are  unworthy  of  a  dignified  mind;  they 
never  did  any  good,  and  they  never  will.  He  who  attacks  Ma- 
sonry, or  any  other  institution,  without  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  subject  on  which  he  speaks,  is  sure  to  speak  unadvisedly 
with  his  lips,  and  will  be  regarded  by  all  who  have  knowledge, 
as  speaking  nonsense,  and  setting  aside,  in  every  such  instance, 
the  laws  of  Christian  charity.  Yet,  after  all,  with  this  little  ex- 
ception, I  regard  Stockton  as  being  at  the  head  of  the  American 
pulpit — fervent  in  piety,  profound  in  general  knowledge,  and 
splendid  in  argumentative  and  rtoetic  eloquence. 


LABORS   AS   CONFERENCE   MISSIONARY.  317 

The  Conference  elected  Dr.  P.  T.  Laisliley  President  for  the 
first  time,  and  he  gave  g-eneral  satisfaction  in  the  performance 
of  the  duties  of  his  office.  At  that  Conference  representatives 
■were  elected  to  our  fourth  General  Conference,  to  be  held  in 
Cincinnati  the  following  May,  and  I  was  one  of  the  members 
elected. 

About  three  months'  hard  labor  as  Conference  Missionary, 
mainly  in  North-western  Pennsylvania,  convinced  me  fully  that 
whatever  good  I  might  do  as  a  pioneer  in  a  new  district  of 
country,  in  breaking  up  new  ground,  I  could  not  obtain  among 
the  people  a  support  for  my  family.  Late  in  the  fall,  I  re- 
turned home  to  Steubenville,  a  little  the  worse  of  wear,  both  in 
body  and  in  mind.  Five  dollars  clear  gain  for  three  months'  in- 
eessant  toil  did  not  look  very  promising !  But  the  winter  was 
spent  in  assisting  the  brethren  at  their  protracted  meetings  in 
the  circuits  and  stations  nearer  home,  where  the  wants  of  my 
family  were  liberally  provided  for  by  my  old  friends.  Among 
these.  New  Manchester  Circuit,  under  the  superintendence  of 

Rev.  Josejih   B ,   took   the   lead.     Will   God   in  mercy  be 

pleased  to  remember  that  once  faithful  and  useful  minister,  and 
bring  the  wanderer  to  the  fold  again!  His  case  is  proof  posi- 
tive, I  think,  that  men  may  fall  from  grace.  May  it  also  be 
proof  that  a  backslider  may  be  reclaimed ! 

Early  in  the  spring  I  was  called  to  Washington,  Pennsyl- 
vania, to  assist  in  adjusting  a  difficulty  between  Rev.  S.  Claw- 
son,  the  superintendent,  and  his  people.  He  was  a  high-strung, 
eccentric,  impulsive  man,  and  being  overruled  by  the  vote  of 
his  Quarterly  Conference,  he  took  it  in  very  high  dudgeon,  and 
at  once  renounced  his  charge.  After  due  time  for  reflection, 
he  repented  of  his  hasty  act,  and  wished  to  return  to  his  work 
again,  but  he  had  men  of  spirit  to  deal  with,  who  held  him  at 
bay  for  a  time.  Ultimately,  the  parties  agreed  to  leave  the 
whole  matter  to  my  judgment.  I  went  at  their  call.  The 
whole  Church  was  convened.  The  parties  stated  the  matter  at 
issue  between  them,  and  I  found  it  a  small  matter,  indeed,  about 
which  to  have  so  much  trouble.  Clawson,  at  last,  made  all  due 
acknowledg-ments  as  to  the  rashness  of  his  conduct  in  abandon- 


318  -KECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

ing  his  people,  because  his  favorite  measure  was  voted  down  in 
the  Quarterly  Conference.  At  my  instance  the  Church,  then 
agreed  to  forgive  him,  and  let  him  continue  in  pastoral  charge 
to  the  end  of  the  year.  Yet  a  few  of  the  best  members  of  the 
Church  were  not  entirely  satisfied  with  this  adjustment:  they 
were  displeased  with  Clawson's  eccentricities.  In  after  years, 
he  was  nearly  bereaved  of  his  senses,  by  a  report  that  a  great 
estate  in  England  had  fallen  to  his  wife.  In  the  prospect  of 
getting  it,  he  borrowed  money  in  considerable  sums,  in  various 
places;  but,  as  the  estate  was  never  obtained,  his  friends  were 
injured  by  lending  him  money  which  he  never  will  be  able 
to  pay;  and  he  himself,  having  lost  public  confidence,  is  now 
among  the  rebels  and  traitors.  When  I  last  heard  of  him,  he 
was  a  prisoner  at  Camp  Chase. 

On  attending  the  General  Conference  of  May,  1846,  in  Cin- 
cinnati, I  found  that  we  were  again  to  have  trouble  on  the  slave 
question.  After  a  long  and  rather  irritating  discussion,  a  con- 
servative resolution  on  that  subject,  similar  to  the  one  adopted 
at  the  preceding  General  Conference  in  Baltimore,  was  finally 
carried,  but  it  left  all  parties  dissatisfied.  The  Southern  mem- 
bers were  displeased  to  have  it  declared  by  that  body  that 
slavery,  under  any  circumstances,  was  inconsistent  with  the 
morality  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  thorough-going  Aboli- 
tionists were  displeased  because  they  could  not  get  a  resolution 
through  the  Conference  declaring  it  to  be  a  sin  against  God 
under  all  circumstances.  The  conservatives  wanted  no  action 
at  all,  in  the  full  persuasion  that  God,  in  his  Word,  had  already 
settled  and  declared  all  moral  principles  that  were  to  govern 
his  Church, .  and  that  the  local  authorities  in  all  the  Confer- 
ences, without  any  declared  opinion  of  the  General  Conference, 
had  the  right  to  sit  in  judgment  on  all  moral  questions — as 
well  the  question  of  slavery  as  any  other — and  decide  them,  not 
according  to  a  General  Conference  opinion  contained  in  a  reso- 
lution, but  according  to  the  revealed  will  of  God.  Besides,  from 
the  light  they  then  had,  they  supposed  that  there  might  be  cir- 
cumstances under  which  a  man  might  hold  a  slave  without  be- 
ing a   sinner   against  God.     But,  as  the  question  was   pressed 


GENERAL    CONFERENCE   AT   CINCINNATI.  319 

upon  the  body,  and  action  had  to  be  taken,  a  conservative  res- 
olution, that  satisfied  nobody,  was  finally  adopted,  and  I  was 
found  acting  among  the  conservatives.  I  now  believe  that 
wherever  there  is  slavery  there  is  sin.  If  the  sin  be  not  in  the 
master,  who  would  free  his  slaves  if  he  could,  it  is  in  the  cruel 
law  and  the  law-makers,  by  whom  emancipation  has  been  ren- 
dered impossible. 

At  this  Greneral  Conference  the  mission  question,  brought  up 
from  the  Maryland  Conference,  in  which  Rev.  T.  H.  Stockton 
took  so  deep  an  interest,  was  finally  adjusted  on  a  plan  pro- 
posed by  Dr.  F.  Waters,  President  of  the  Conference,  and  was 
incorporated  into  our  book  of  discipline.  It  then  served  to  set- 
tle a  question,  but  was  of  very  little  utility  to  the  Church,  and 
has  since  been  superseded  by  a  better  plan.  My  recollection  is 
not  sufficiently  distinct  to  enable  me  to  state  exactly  the  origin 
of  the  controversy  in  the  Maryland  Conference  concerning  mis- 
sions, but  it  certainly  involved  the  following  questions:  1.  What 
territory  within  the  bounds  of  an  Annual  Conference  can  fairly 
be  considered  missionary  ground?  2.  Can  an  old  charge,  either 
a  circuit  or  station,  by  calling  itself  a  mission,  thereby  legally 
take  itself  from  under  the  operation  of  the  restrictive  rule,  and 
retain  its  pastor  for  an  indefinite  term  of  time?  Brother  T.  II. 
Stockton  was  in  favor  of  the  right  of  old  charges  to  become 
missions  if  they  chose  to  do  so,  and  of  a  continuation  of  a  pas- 
toral relation  beyond  the  time  allowed  by  the  restrictive  rule. 
His  argument  was  eloquent  and  powerful,  and,  had  it  been 
yielded  to,  would  have  revolutionized  our  whole  connection,  by 
turning  all  our  most  important  chai'ges  into  missions,  where  the 
pastoral  relation  could  have  been  continued  after  the  manner  of 
the  Congregational  Churches,  and  our  beloved  itinerancy,  left 
to  operate  on  the  feeble  outskirt  appointments,  would  certainly 
have  come  to  an  end.  Much  as  brother  Stockton  was  loved  by 
the  whole  body,  it  was  not  deemed  best  to  substitute  Congre- 
gationalism for  our  itinerant  system,  in  accordance  with  his 
views.  Yet,  toward  the  conclusion  of  the  Conference,  he  did 
succeed  in  getting  a  new  district  set  off,  including  Philadelphia 
and  other  adjacent  places.     But  the  brethren  in  the  charges  in- 


320  KECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

eluded  in  tliis  new  Conference  were  not  all  agreed  to  substitute 
the  settled  pastorate  in  the  room  of  the  old  itinerant  plan,  so 
they  sought  an  alliance  with  the  Maryland  Conference,  and  at 
the  next  General  Conference  the  Philadelphia  District  was,  by 
action  of  that  body,  included  in  the  Maryland  District,  very 
much  to  the  grief  of  brothers  Stockton,  Wilson,  Ward,  and  other 
valuable  Christian  brethren.  Some  of  them  went  into  Inde- 
pendency, but  brother  Stockton  still  holds  his  membership  in 
the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  where  he  is  greatly  beloved  by  the 
brethren. 

During  the  General  Conference  in  Cincinnati,  the  colored 
brethren,  having  bought  the  Millerite  Temple,  were  about  to 
dedicate  it  with  a  quarterly  meeting.  At  that  dedication  a  num- 
ber of  the  members  of  the  Conference  were  present.  Among 
them  was  Kev.  Josiah  Varden,  from  whom  we  have  the  follow- 
ing amusing  anecdote.  The  house  was  a  perfect  jam.  The  del- 
egates were  near  the  center  of  the  congregation,  wedged  in  so 
tightly  among  the  colored  brethren  that  a  retreat  was  impos- 
sible. The  windows  in  that  queerly-constructed  house  were  so 
high,  that  they  could  not  conveniently  be  reached  and  raised 
to  admit  fresh  air.  The  weather  was  quite  warm,  and  the  odor 
of  that  crowded  assembly  was  by  no  means  pleasant,  yet  it  had 
to  be  endured  by  the  delegates  during  a  pretty  long  sermon. 
When  the  sermon  came  to  an  end,  up  rose  a  short,  thick  col- 
ored preacher,  and  went  into  the  pulpit.  With  eyes  laughing 
and  white  teeth  showing,  he  said,  "  We  hope  our  white  friends 
will  excuse  de  smell  to-day.  When  we  did  buy  dis  house  ob 
de  Millerites,  we  did  employ  de  carpenter  to  cut  a  hole  in  de 
roof  for'  let  out  de  effervescence  ob  de  gas.  After  some  time, 
we  found  he  would  not  do  it  widout  de  money  in  advance,  and 
we  had  no  money  to  give  him.  So  now,  gentlemen  and  ladies, 
we  are  going  to  make  a  collection  to-day,  for  pay  de  carpenter 
to  cut  a  hole  in  de  roof  for  let  out  de  effervescence  ob  de  gas. 
Brother  3Ioses,  hand  round  de  hat."  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
delegates  of  our  General  Conference,  after  such  a  rich  treat  to 
their  olfactory  nerves,  did  contribute  liberally  to  help  the  col- 
ored people  to  pay  the  carpenter  for  cutting  a  hole  in  the  roof, 


SORE    PROVIDENTIAL    AFFLICTION.  321 

to  let  out  tte  eiferveseence  of  the  gas.  Never,  from  that  day 
to  this,  have  I  thought  of  the  very  pleasant  fix  of  our  delegates 
on  that  occasion,  and  the  ludicrously-pompous  speech  of  the 
colored  preacher,  without  being  deeply  moved  to  laughter.  In 
such  cases  mirth  becomes  irrepressible. 

"^  While  at  that  General  Conference,  Dr.  Laishley,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Pittsburgh  District,  engaged  me,  as  Conference  mis- 
sionary, to  fill  his  appointments  in  the  north-eastern  part  of 
Western  Pennsylvania.  The  Doctor  gave  me  a  plan  of  the  ap- 
pointments, and  was  to  publish  them  immediately,  for  me  to 
fill  and  receive  his  pay.  So  I  returned  home  to  Steubenville, 
and  in  due  time  set  out  to  perform  the  labor  assigned  me.  I 
reached  every  appointment  before  the  paper  got  there  to  notify 
the  brethren  that  I  was  coming.  So  I  had,  in  every  instance 
but  one,  to  get  up  my  own  appointments  as  best  I  could.  I 
believe  the  Doctor  sent  on  the  appointments  for  publication  in 
time,  but  either  in  the  printing-ofiice  or  in  the  mails  there  was 
a  tardiness  which  caused  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  So  I  had 
hard  labor  and  a  very  meager  remuneration.  In  another  respect 
I  had  a  very  sore  providential  affliction.  The  day  I  left  home, 
driving  merrily  on,  singing  as  I  went,  a  rough,  harsh  bug 
dashed  against  my  ear,  and  in  he  went,  struggling  hard,  as  if  he 
meant  to  go  clear  through  my  head  !  He  was  at  once  beyond 
my  reach.  I  had  no  means  to  withdraw  his  bugship  from  his 
position.  His  struggles  nearly  convulsed  my  whole  nervous 
system,  and  threw  my  entire  frame  into  the  most  intense  agony. 
But  here  came  a  lady  on  horseback.  I  leaped  from  my  carriage, 
and  implored  her  to  dismount  and  remove  the  bug  from  my  ear. 
Instantly,  she  kindly  made  the  trial,  but  failed.  Iler  effort  did 
no  more  than  kill  the  bug;  it  was  still  in  my  ear,  and  my  agony 
was  more  intense  than  before.  I  then  drove  on  with  all  speed 
to  Wellsville,  to  the  house  of  brother  Joseph  Wells,  but  there 
was  no  one  at  home.  I  then  turned  back  to  the  ofiice  of  Dr. 
Stevenson,  but  he  was  not  there;  however,  kind  friends  soon 
found  him  and  brought  him  to  my  relief.  He  tried  to  float  the 
bug  out  with  sweet-oil,  but  did  not  succeed.  He  then  picked 
it  out,  a  bit  at  a  time,  with  an  instrument.     My  ear  bled  freely, 


322  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

the  fever  was  liigt,  and  the  pain  very  great.  With  sweet-oil 
and  wool  in  my  ear,  I  drove  on  that  afternoon  to  Beaver,  the 
pulse  near  my  ear  sounding  like  the  stroke  of  a  forge-hammer 
all  the  way.  Three  times  during  my  tour  of  five  or  six  weeks 
did  suppuration  take  place,  and  bloody  matter  was  discharged. 
For  a  time  I  entertained  fears  that  the  tympanum,  or  drum  of 
the  ear,  was  utterly  destroyed.  That  forge-hammer-like  sound 
still  followed  me  in  all  my  toils — for  I  filled  all  my  appoint- 
ments— nor  did  I  wholly  recover  for  about  six  months.  But 
my  recovery  was  complete,  and,  by  the  blessing  of  Grod,  I  have 
good  hearing  even  down  to  old  age. 

This  thing  of  supporting  one's  family  on  the  proceeds  of 
Conference  missionary  labor  was,  in  my  case,  an  utter  failure. 
But  for  my  own  scanty  means,  and  the  voluntary  assistance 
granted  me  by  several  of  the  circuits  and  stations  in  the  dis- 
trict, my  family  would  have  sulfered.  To  me  this  was  a  year 
of  trial  and  sore  conflict  with  the  enemy  of  my  soul.  My  re- 
ligion was  tested  at  every  point,  and,  in  some  instances,  I  frankly 
own  that  I  did  not  maintain  my  ground  against  the  enemy  as 
a  true  Christian  soldier  should  have  done,  '^o  myself  I  take 
shame  and  confusion  of  face,  but  to  the  Lord  my  God  I  give 
glory,  honor,  and  praise  for  bearing  with  me  and  taking  care 
of  me  in  all  my  trials. 

In  September,  1846,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  in 
Alleghany,  and  I  was  again  elected  to  thp  presidency.  The 
Conference  was  well  cared  for  by  the  community;  but  the 
weather  being  excessively  warm,  the  brethren  were  by  no  means 
comfortably  accommodated,  crowded,  as  they  were,  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  new  meeting-house.  There  were  certain  of  the 
members  of  that  station  who  expressed  an  unwillingness  to 
allow  the  Conference  to  remove  its  sittings  to  the  main  audience- 
room,  up-stairs,  lest  the  house  should  be  defiled  by  tobacco- 
chewers.  They  alleged  that  "the  basement  was  good  enough  for 
such  a  set  of  men."  Rev.  C.  Avery  and  E.  W.  Stephens,  lead- 
ing brethren,  who  mainly  built  both  the  meeting-house  and  the 
parsonage,  expressed  a  wish  that  the  Conference  would  pay  no 
attention  to  these  offensive  objectors,  but  go  at  once  up-stairs 


A   TROUBLESOME    BROTHERHOOD.  823 

into  the  body  of  the  church,  where  they  would  have  a  free  cir- 
culation of  pure  air.  But  the  brethren  of  the  Conference,  under 
an  impression  that  the  objectors  were  numerous,  felt  themselves 
a  little  offended,  and  determined  to  finish  their  business,  with  all 
possible  dispatch,  in  that  sultry  basement,  and  then  return  to 
Alleghany  no  more  to  hold  a  conference,  until  they  were  sure 
of  more  respectful  treatment.  They  were,  perhaps,  a  little  too 
sensitive.  It  is  probable  that  the  number  of  members  opposed 
to  their  using  the  body  of  the  church  was  but  few.  The  feel- 
ing on  this  oiFensive  matter  in  a  short  time  passed  away.  In 
nine  years  we  held  Conference  there  again,  and  found  that  the 
over-nice  brother,  who  was  head  and  front  of  the  opposition  to 
the  Conference  occupying  the  audience-room,  lest  it  should  be 
defiled  by  tobacco-chewers,  had  not  been  over-scrupulous  on 
questions  of  high  moral  character,  and  had  been  excluded  from 
the  Church  for  dishonesty  in  his  dealings.  0,  how  many  there 
are  who  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel — are  very  nice 
about  little  things,  tithing  mint,  anise,  and  cumin,  while  they 
pass  over  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy, 
and  the  love  of  God.  Let  men  be  nice,  and  keep  a  clean 
church,  but,  at  the  same  time,  let  them  maintain  a  good  moral 
character  before  God  and  all  the  people. 

During  this  year  I  visited  all  the  circuits  and  stations  in  the 
district.  My  great  tour  of  hard  travel  and  labor  in  Western 
Virginia  nearly  broke  me  down.  On  returning  from  the  Green- 
brier country,  I  rested  and  recruited  my  health  a  little  at  home 
in  Steubenville.  While  there,  God  put  it  into  my  heart  to 
attack  a  very  troviblesome  brotherhood  of  infidels,  all  of  them 
members  of  the  Church.  At  first  they  were  Restorationists, 
and  believed  in  a  limited  punishment  of  sinners  who  might  die 
without  repentance.  Then  they  went  further,  and  adopted  Uni- 
versalism  proper,  and  did  not  believe  in  any  future  punishment 
at  all.  The  next  step  was  to  embrace  Deism,  and  renounce 
the  Christian  religion  and  the  Saviour  of  sinners  altogether. 
This  was  a  legitimate  consequence  of  Universalism ;  for  if  there 
be  no  hell,  no  future  punishment  at  all,  there  is  no  sinner  upon 
earth  in  any  danger  of  being  lost;  the  Bible  is  false,  the  Chris- 


324  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

tian  religion  is  a  fable,  and  Christ  is  an  impostor  for  pretend- 
ing to  save  sinners  wten  they  are  in  no  danger  of  being  lost. 
But  these  men  did  not  stop  here;  they  went  on  to  open  Athe- 
ism, and  believed  in  no  God  at  all.  I  knew  these  men  well, 
and  was  aware  of  the  existence  of  their  debating  club,  where 
Atheism  was  openly  and  defiantly  advocated.  Often  did  I 
wonder  why  their  minister  did  not  come  out  against  them,  for 
they  were  generally  in  the  congregation  on  the  Sabbath-day. 

The  first  Sunday  after  I  got  home,  I  was  invited  to  preach, 
and,  without  notifying  any  one  of  my  design,  I  took  up  the 
case  of  these  infidels.  That  afternoon  I  received  a  note  from 
the  leader  of  the  club,  requesting  me  to  "repeat  the  dose" — 
they  "wanted  to  hear  more  of  it."  On  Monday  evening,  the 
Quarterly  Conference,  by  resolution,  desired  me  to  preach  a 
series  of  sermons  on  the  authenticity  and  Divine  authority  of 
the  Christian  religion.  So,  being  requested  by  both  parties,  I 
prepared  myself,  and  with  all  the  intellectual  and  moral  power 
that  God  gave  me,  I  handled  the  question  in  six  consecutive 
discourses.  By  the  time  I  was  done,  the  Chuix-h  was  in  the 
temper  to  bring  these  infidels  under  disciplinary  treatment,  and 
either  reform  or  expel  them.  But  they  all  declined  a  trial,  and 
left  the  Church.  Yet  some  of  them  did  not  want  their  families 
to  leave  the  Church,  embrace  their  sentiments,  and  associate 
with  infidels ;  for  they  frankly  confessed  that  infidel  society, 
as  a  general  thing,  was  not  sufiiciently  respectable  for  ladies  to 
associate  with.  In  my  opinion,  men  who  talked  in  this  way 
did  not  more  than  half  believe  their  own  doctrine,  and,  but  for 
a  false  pride,  would  have  recanted  their  errors. 

It  is  certainly  a  matter  of  Christian  propriety  for  a  Church 
to  bear  with  erring  brethren  while  their  errors  are  of  a  minor 
character,  and  no  attempt  is  made  to  propagate  them  or  to  dis- 
turb the  peace  of  the  body.  But  when  error  becomes  rampant 
and  fearfully  infidel  in  its  character,  and  seeks,  in  the  club- 
room  and  elsewhere,  to  extend  a  poisonous  influence  through 
the  community,  then  a  Church  should  immediately  take  action 
against  its  advocates,  and  reform  or  expel  them,  as  the  case 
may  require.     The  man  who  led  the  above-mentioned  Church 


DISCUSSIONS    ON   CHURCH   GOVERNMENT.  325 

members  astray  was  a  talented,  eloquent  Restorationist,  sound 
in  the  Christian  faith  on  all  points  save  that  one,  nor  did  he 
ever  suppose  that  those  who  adopted  his  views  were  taking  the 
first  step  to  Atheism.  The  beginning  of  error  is  like  the  let- 
ting loose  of  waters — small  at  first,  but  finally  becomes  a  rush- 
ing torrent,  sweeping  all  before  it.  By  any  means,  and  to  any 
extent,  to  fritter  away  or  lower  down  the  Divine  Law,  or  its 
penalties,  certainly  tends  to  the  increase  of  crime  and  the  ruin 
of  souls. 

From  Steubenville  I  proceeded  to  New  Brighton,  then  to  New 
Castle,  and  then  to  Couueaut,  holding  my  annual  meetings  as  I 
went.  Between  Lockport  and  Gerrard  we  held  a  very  profitable 
and  interesting  camp-meeting.  I  had,  on  several  preceding 
visits  to  that  region,  circulated  among  the  people  who  attended 
my  meetings  Bev.  W.  B.  Evans's  "Questions  and  Answers  on 
Church  Grovernment,"  and  I  had  also  delivered  lectures  on  the 
same  subject.  This  had  roused  Rev.  Mr.  Flowers,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  who  came  to  the  camp-meeting  with 
the  determination,  as  I  was  told,  to  call  me  to  a  public  account, 
in  case  I  delivered  a  lecture  on  Church  government,  or  circu- 
lated any  more  of  Evans's  Questions  and  Answers.  The  Quar- 
terly Conference  on  Saturday,  by  I'esolution,  requested  me  to 
deliver  a  lecture.  I  agreed  to  do  so,  provided  tlie  Sunday  con- 
gregation, at  the  close  of  the  morning  service,  would  vote  for 
it,  but  not  else.  I  did  not  intend  to  thrust  my  lectures  upon 
the  people  without  their  consent.  On  Sunday  morning  it  was 
called  for  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  of  a  very  large  congre- 
gation, and  was  then  announced  for  Monday,  at  two  o'clock 
P.  M.  Rev.  Mr.  Flowers,  being  present,  was  publicly  informed 
that  he  should  have  a  fair  opportunity  to  reply.  Monday  morn- 
ing came.  After  sacrament  and  dinner  were  over,  I  took  my 
position  in  front  of  the  stand,  spread  out  my  books  and  papers 
on  a  table,  and  then  invited  Mr.  Flowers  to  come  forward  and 
be  seated  near  me.  After  being  introduced  to  him,  we  had  a 
little  friendly  conversation  of  rather  a  pleasant  character.  I 
then  proposed  to  him,  in  the  presence  of  that  large  assembly, 
that  we  should  choose  a  presiding  ofiicer,  to  maintain  order. 


326  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Tin's  was  accordingly  done,  to  our  mutual  satisfaction.  I  thea 
proposed  to  deliver  my  argument  against  the  ecclesiastical  econ- 
omy of  tlie  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  in  favor  of  that 
of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  at  full  length,  without  in- 
terruption from  hira  or  any  one  else ;  that  he,  Mr.  Flowers, 
should  have  an  opportunity  to  reply,  at  whatever  length  he 
chose,  after  which  I  would  review  him  and  he  might  review 
me,  and  that  this  should  close  the  discussion.  To  all  of  this 
he  agreed,  without  one  word  of  objection. 

I  shall  not  attempt,  in  this  place,  to  give  any  part  of  my 
argument,  though  I  still  have  my  notes.  I  spoke  a  little  over 
two  hours,  covering  the  whole  ground  of  controversy  between 
the  two  Churches.  It  was  my  aim,  throughout,  to  treat  the 
old  Church  with  all  possible  fairness ;  to  be  kind  in  language 
and  strong  in  argument,  and  to  bring  the  doctrine  of  Mutual 
Rights  before  that  assembly  under  as  favorable  circumstances 
as  I  conveniently  could.  Indeed,  I  was  religiously  in  earnest 
in  my  effort  to  get  the  whole  truth  on  the  subject  at  issue 
before  the  people,  and  I  think  I  did  succeed.  The  impression 
appeared  to  be  very  fine. 

When  I  was  done,  and  had  taken  my  seat,  Mr.  Flower's  was 
called  for,  but  he  declined  a  reply  that  afternoon.  He  was 
urged  four  different  times,  but,  on  one  ground  or  another,  he 
still  declined,  and  said  his  reply  would  be  made  the  next  morn- 
ing. The  people,  however,  were  not  satisfied,  and  insisted  upon 
his  going  on,  according  to  arrangement.  I  then  interposed  in 
his  behalf,  and  expressed  a  wish  that  he  might  have  suitable 
time  to  prepare  himself  for  the  work  before  him.  So  the  meet- 
ing was  adjourned  until  ten  o'clock  the  next  day.  That  night 
I  did  not  rest  well ;  my  nerves  were  affected  by  the  effort  I  had 
made,  and  I  arose  in  the  morning  quite  unwell,  and  felt  entirely 
unfit  for  duty.  By  ten  o'clock  the  congregation  had  assembled, 
and  Flowers  was  on  hand  to  make  his  reply.  He  would  not 
occupy  my  position  in  the  altar,  but  took  the  stand,  supposing 
he  could  speak  better  from  thence.  In  his  argument  in  sup2:)ort 
of  Episcopacy,  he  made  pretty  free  use  of  Dr.  Emory's  "  De- 
fense of  the  Fathers."     He  brought  forward  most  of  the  old 


VISIT   TO   CLARION   CIRCUIT.  327 

exploded  arguments  in  favor  of  the  powers  in  the  government 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  claimed  and  held  by  the 
itinerant  preachers.  He  admitted  that  the  bishops  and  itiner- 
ant clergy' did  hold  all  the  ecclesiastical  power  in  their  Church 
that  I  had  shown  them  to  possess.  He  asked,  "What  of  it?" 
Had  it  done  any  harm?  Did  not  the  Church  mainly  owe  her 
success  to  that  form  of  government?  He  seemed  to  forget  all 
my  arguments  and  authorities  from  Scripture,  history,  and  rea- 
son against  their  high  claims  to  clerical  power,  and  that  it  was 
"  the  Gospel  of  Christ,"  and  not  the  power  of  the  clergy,  that 
was  "  the  power  of  Grod  unto  salvation  to  all  them  that  be- 
lieve." 

In  the  review  of  my  opponent,  I  showed  that  my  main  posi- 
tions had  been  admitted ;  that  his  boasted  form  of  Church 
government  had  already  done  much  harm ;  that  none  of  the 
divisions  in  England  or  America  had  grown  out  of  doctrinal 
dissensions;  all  had  resulted  from  disputes  about  clerical  power; 
and  that,  in  such  a  country  as  ours,  such  a  government  as 
theirs  was  destined  to  do  harm,  in  many  ways,  as  long  as  it  ex- 
isted. It  might,  ultimately,  injuriously  affect  our  civil  govern- 
ment. When  my  opponent  came  on  with  the  closing  speech, 
he  was  somewhat  kind  and  complimentary  to  me,  but  aimed 
greatly  to  laud  and  magnify  Episcopal  Methodism  as  the  great 
instrumentality  by  which  the  world  was  to  be  converted.  He 
gave  the  ciudlence  a  zealous  exhortation  to  take  passage  on  the 
Old  Ship  which  had  landed  so  many  thousands  on  the  heavenly 
shore.  She  was  well  built,  her  timbers  were  good,  and  there 
was  no  danger  of  her  being  wrecked  or  cast  away.  In  all  of 
this  there  was  nothing  like  a  review  or  argument.  The  evident 
intention  of  the  speaker  was  to  raise  the  highest  amount  of 
feeling  possible  in  favor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
The  discussion  closed  with  entire  good-will  and  kindness  be- 
tween the  parties. 

From  the  aforesaid  camp-meeting,  in  company  with  Rev.  W. 
H.  Doe  and  lady,  I  went  on  to  Clarion  Circuit.  My  first  ap- 
pointment was  in  a  small  village  called  Troy.  The  congrega- 
tion was   large.     There  was   quite    a  revival   influence  abroad 


828  RECOLLECTIOXS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

among  tlie  people.  Some  lively  singing  and  praying  followed 
tlie  sermon.  Then  a  motion  was  made,  and  carried  by  an  al- 
most unanimous  vote,  requesting  me  to  deliver  them  a  lecture 
on  Cliurcli  government,  the  next  day,  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  preacher  of  that  circuit  then  asked  the 
assembly  to  grant  him  the  privilege  of  making  a  reply.  That 
privilege  was  allowed  him.  So  here  I  was,  in  for  another  public 
discussion.  The  preliminary  arrangement  was  then  and  there 
made,  and  was  exactly  the  same  as  that  adopted  at  the  discus- 
sion at  the  camp-meeting.  That  night  my  opponent,  whose 
name  I  have  forgotten,  paid  me  a  visit  at  my  lodgings.  He 
said  he  did  not  know  the  ground  I  meant  to  occupy  in  my 
lecture  in  opposition  to  their  Church  government.  He  wanted 
to  be  informed,  so  as  to  know  how  to  frame  his  reply.  After 
mature  reflection,  I  told  him  he  was  asking  too  much ;  that 
when  he  heard  my  lecture  he  would  fully  understand  the  ground 
I  occupied.  However,  as  I  saw  he  was  in  trouble,  and  as  I 
desired  to  afford  him  the  fairest  opportunity  I  could  to  defend 
Lis  ecclesiastical  system,  I  stated  to  him  the  entire  plan  of  my 
lecture.  When  this  was  done  he  left  me,  and  spent  the  whole 
night,  as  I  was  informed,  in  preparation  for  the  coming  struggle. 
In  the  morning,  when  the  people  assembled,  my  lecture,  of 
something  over  two  hours  in  length,  was  delivered.  It  was  the 
same  I  had  given  on  the  previous  Monday,  at  the  camp-meet- 
ing, only  an  enlargement  on  some  points  was  deemed  necessary. 
The  congregation  gave  me  a  very  patient  hearing,  and  I  thought 
I  could  see  signs  of  approbation  among  the  people  generally. 
My  opponent,  for  a  time,  took  notes.  Finally,  he  laid  by  his 
paper,  and  seemed  to  indicate,  by  his  manner,  an  irritated  state 
of  mind.  Yet,  throughout  my  lecture,  my  language  was  en- 
tirely kind :  there  was  nothing  to  offend,  unless  quotations  from 
Scripture,  history,  the  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  and  fair  argument  were  deemed  offensive.  When  I 
was  done,  my  opponent  came  forward  and  took  the  stand. 
After  some  feeble  attempts  at  a  reply,  he  lost  his  temper,  and 
poured  forth  upon  me  and  upon  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  a  perfect  torrent  of  abuse;    nor  could  he  be  kept  in 


ABUSIVE    SPEECH.  329 

order.  The  leading  rQcmbcrs  of  his  own  Church,  after  remon- 
strating against  the  abuse  given  me,  left  the  house,  declaring,  as 
they  went,  that  I  had  "treated  their  Church  with  all  due  kind- 
ness, and  they  were  not  going  to  sit  there  and  hear  their 
preacher  disgrace  himself,  and  his  Church  too,  by  abusing  me." 
I  went  out  and  persuaded  them  to  return,  by  telling  them,  "  I 
can  stand  all  his  abuse,  and  you  must;  it  will  not  do  to  break 
up  this  meeting  in  disorder."  So  we  all  went  back  and  heard 
him  out. 

In  my  review  I  was  very  brief,  claiming  that  my  entire  argu- 
ment stood  in  full  force  against  the  anti-republican  character 
of  the  government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  I 
claimed,  too,  that  my  opponent  would  have  done  better  but 
for  a  lack  of  arguments.  I  excused  him  for  the  abuse  heaped 
upon  me  and  upon  my  Church  on  the  sole  ground  of  a  want 
of  argument.  "  The  mouths  that  lack  argument  are  always 
filled  with  abuse."  This,  I  think,  was  the  general  opinion  of 
that  assembly ;  indeed,  all  sensible  men  admit  the  truth  of  this 
maxim.  My  opponent  had  the  closing  speech.  He  did  noth- 
ing at  argument ;  he  did  not  recall  his  abusive  language,  but 
left  things  as  they  were;  and  so  the  discussion  closed,  leaving 
a  very  general  impression  in  favor  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  in  the  vicinity  of  Troy.  This  gentleman,  having  failed, 
on  that  occasion,  to  defend  the  government  of  his  Church  suc- 
cessfully, fell  into  trouble  among  his  brethren,  and  ultimately 
joined  our  Church.  After  this,  in  conversation  with  him  con- 
cerning our  discussion,  he  told  me,  frankly,  that  before  I  was 
half  done  with  my  lecture,  he  felt  in  his  soul  that  he  could  not 
answer  my  arguments,  which  to  him  was  a  very  vexatious  mat- 
ter, and  roused  in  him  a  disposition  to  cover  his  retreat  by  a 
Tolley  of  abuse.  Many  men  besides  him  have  made  this  last 
resort,  but  it  is  not  a  very  reputable  way  to  get  out  of  trouble. 
Better  yield  the  point  at  once  than  to  adopt  such  a  plan  of 
retreat. 

From  Troy  I  went  on  with  brother  Doe  to  his  quarterly- 
meeting,  a  distance  of  about  thirteen  miles.  It  was  held  in  a 
very  large  barn,  owned  by  a  wealthy  farmer,  whose  name  I  have 
21 


830  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

forgotten.  During  the  meeting,  which  was  a  very  good  one, 
the  two  lectures  in  the  past  week  were  much  talked  of  by  the 
people.  On  Sunday  the  congregation  called  on  me,  by  a  rising 
vote,  for  a  lecture  on  Church  government,  and  on  Monday  it 
was  delivered  to  a  crowded  audience.  It  was  well  received  by 
the  people,  but  it  lacked  the  interest  of  the  former  lectures,  as 
there  was  no  one  to  reply.  After  visiting  the  circuits  in  the 
Susquehanna  country,  and  the  Johnstown  Station,  I  returned 
home  to  Steubenville,  and  prepared  for  Conference. 

In  September,  1847,  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  was 
held  in  Waynesburg,  Green  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  I  was 
again  elected  President.  The  Conference  was  most  handsomely 
entertained  by  that  community,  and  the  brethren  began  to  think 
that  country  towns  took  immensely  more  interest  in  an  Annual 
Conference  than  did  the  large  cities,  where  such  assemblies  are 
80  frequent  as  to  lose  their  novelty.  An  Annual  Conference 
in  a  large  city  moves  nobody  beyond  our  own  membership; 
but  let  one  be  held  in  an  interior  town,  and  the  whole  popula- 
tion is  astir.  From  the  town  and  the  country  people  come  pour- 
ing in,  to  see  what  is  going  on  at  these  Conference  gatherings. 
At  that  time  there  was,  on  the  part  of  the  preachers,  a  very 
able  and  interesting  discussion  on  the  restrictive  rule,  in  the 
presence  of  a  crowded  assembly.  No  result  was  reached. 
Brother  T.  H.  Stockton  was  present  with  us,  and  laid  before 
the  Conference  and  the  citizens,  who  densely  packed  the  house, 
his  entire  plan  for  a  Brotherly  Love  Association.  It  looked 
beautiful,  but  was  thought  impracticable.  It  might  do  in  the 
Millennium,  but  not  in  the  present  state  of  society.  If  I  re- 
member right,  there  was  in  that  plan  no  provision  against  an 
evil-doer.  It  was  taken  for  granted  that  every  body  in  the  asso- 
ciation would  do  exactly  right.  Even  the  defects  in  the  scheme 
showed  the  goodness  of  the  man.  Brother  Stockton  has  a  very 
pure  and  elevated  spirit.  On  the  Sabbath-day,  as  no  house  of 
worship  in  Waynesburg  would  accommodate  the  great  multi- 
tude of  people  that  assembled,  we  all  repaired  to  the  grove,  to 
hear  brother  Stockton  an  one  of  the  great  central  doctrines  of 
Christianity — the  Atonement — a  world's  redemption   by  Jesua 


APPOINTMENT   IN   SUTTONVILLE.  331 

Clirist.  The  theme  was  grand,  and  the  minister  was  surpass- 
ingly eloquent. 

I  shall  not  deem  it  necessary  to  give  a  detailed  account  of 
all  the  occurrences  of  this  year.  To  note  such  matters  of  in- 
terest as  have  made  a  lasting  impression  on  my  mind  will  be 
sufficient  for  my  purpose.  I  spent,  as  was  my  custom,  the  fall 
and  winter  in  visiting  the  circuits  and  stations  in  the  central 
portion  of  the  district.  Our  young  Church  in  the  free  States 
had  suffered  much  by  the  abolition  controversy;  still  she  main- 
tained her  conservative  ground.  She  was  anti-slavery  in  her 
eentiments,  but  not  yet  ripe  to  cut  loose  from  the  slaveholding 
Conferences  in  the  South.  The  Wesleyans,  because  of  our  re- 
lation to  the  South,  had  made  inroads  upon  us,  taken  away 
many  of  our  societies,  some  of  our  circuits,  and  in  one  instance 
nearly  a  whole  Conference.  But  now,  at  last,  we  began  to  have 
peace  and  prosperity.  In  the  course  of  this  year  many  souls 
were  converted  to  God.  I  engaged  Rev.  D.  R.  Helmick  to  visit 
the  Greenbrier  region  for  me,  and  only  extended  my  own  labors 
into  the  Virginia  part  of  the  district  as  far  as  the  Braxton  Cir- 
cuit. All  through  the  West  Virginia  portion  of  the  Confer- 
ence there  were  revivals  of  religion,  and  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom was  greatly  advanced  by  means  of  Methodist  Protestant 
preaching. 

On  my  way  to  my  appointment  on  Braxton  Circuit,  at  the 
Union  Mills,  on  Elk  River,  I  spent  a  night  in  Suttonville,  the 
Beat  of  justice  for  Braxton  County.  Elijah  Squires,  my  travel- 
ing companion,  got  up  an  appointment  for  me  to  preach  in  the 
court-house  that  night.  In  that  town  there  was,  in  those  days, 
a  half-finished  court-house  and  some  sort  of  a  jail,  but  no 
Bchool-house  or  meeting-house,  and  intemperance  was  doing  its 
terrible  work  among  the  people.  During  Divine  service,  the 
clerk  of  the  court,  a  man  of  tine  talents,  and  one  of  the  "  F.  F. 
V.'s,"  felt  himself  insulted  by  the  overhauling  given  in  my  ser- 
mon to  intemperance,  and  occasioned  no  little  disturbance  to  the 
congregation  and  myself.  Never  would  that  man  have  done 
Buch  a  thing  if  he  had  been  sober.  Poor  Suttonville  is  now 
(1865)  in  ruins,  having  been  desolated  by  the  war.     The  next 


832  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

morning,  brother  Squires  and  I  made  an  early  start  for  the 
quarterly  meeting,  twelve  miles  up  the  river.  Most  of  the  way 
there  was  no  bottom  land ;  the  lofty  hills  came  precipitately 
down  to  the  Elk  River,  whose  waters  ran  rapidly  and  were  very 
clear.  It  was  found  somewhat  hazardous  to  travel  along  a  very 
narrow  path,  with  the  river  to  the  right,  sometimes  from  fifty 
to  one  hundred  feet  below,  and  a  steep  hill  or  mountain  on 
the  left,  rising  high  above  the  travelers.  In  one  place  the  turn- 
ing of  a  boat  in  the  river  was  a  very  interesting  sight.  The 
boat,  bottom  upward,  with  a  large  pile  of  rocks  on  it,  was  floated 
out  into  deep  water ;  then  the  rocks  were  all  moved  over  to  one 
side ;  that  side  went  down,  the  other  side  was  elevated,  until  at 
last  over  it  went,  and,  as  it  turned,  the  men  who  conducted  the 
operation  took  to  the  skiff  for  safety. 

Ultimately,  we  reached  the  Union  Mills,  the  place  of  the 
quarterly  meeting.  Here,  among  the  mountains,  was  found 
some  good  bottom  land  and  several  farms.  But  from  the  banka 
of  the  river  to  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  on  each  side,  the 
height  looked  fearful,  and  the  whole  scene  was  truly  grand — 
well  calculated  to  fire  a  poetic  imagination.  The  people  assem- 
bled for  worship  in  the  fjxmily  residence  of  brother  Skidmore. 
It  was  indeed  a  crowded  house.  Where  all  the  people  came 
from  was  more  than  I  could  even  guess.  When  the  preaching 
was  over,  the  Quarterly  Conference  was  announced.  But  very 
few  left  the  house;  all  seemed  anxious  to  see  all  that  was  to  be 
done.  Before  we  entered  upon  business.  Rev.  A.  J.  Warin,  the 
superintendent,  brought  to  me  a  man  rather  under  middle  size, 
with  black  hair  and  keen  black  eyes,  who  wore  what  is  called 
in  that  region  a  hunting-shirt,  girded  on  with  a  leather  strap, 
and  introduced  him  in  about  the  following  style:  "Brother 
Brown,  I  wish  to  make  you  acquainted  with  brother  Hosea,  our 
class-leader;  he  has  killed  five  bears  this  fall!" — thus  seem- 
ing to  commend  him  in  his  ofiice  of  class-leader  by  a  careful 
mention  of  the  number  of  the  bears  he  had  killed.  A  good 
deal  of  pleasantry  followed,  and  it  was  wound  up  with  an 
invitation    from   brother   Hosea   to   go   home   with   him,   just 


LIBERALITY    OF    THE    MOUNTAINEERS.  333 

across  the  river,  and  eat  bear-meat  for  dinner.  But,  fond  as 
I  was  of  bear-meat,  and  otter  kinds  of  wild  game,  to  which  I 
had  been  accustomed  in  early  life,  I  had  to  decline  his  invita- 
tion, in  view  of  attending  to  the  business  of  the  Quarterly  Con- 
ference. 

When  the  Quarterly  Conference  and  dinner  were  over,  away 
went  all  the  men  present,  to  carry  boards  from  the  saw-mill 
hard  by,  to.  prepare  seats  for  the  Sunday  congregation.  A 
great  oak,  rather  low,  with  wide-spread  branches,  standing  on 
the  bank  of  the  Elk  River,  afforded  a  splendid  shade  for  the 
occasion.  Sunday  came,  and  although  it  was  the  1st  of  No- 
vember, yet  no  frost  in  that  region  had  seared  the  leaves  of 
that  magnificent  tree.  The  congregation  was  very  large — too 
large  by  about  one-half  for  the  extensive  preparations  made. 
Where  did  they  all  come  from?  It  was  amazing  to  see  such  an 
assemblage  of  people  in  such  a  mountain  region.  A  few  from 
distant  points  were  clad  in  the  richest  style,  but  the  great  mass 
wore  the  homespun  dress  of  the  mountains.  All  were  civil  and 
very  attentive  to  preaching.  That  day,  under  the  shade  of  that 
venerable  oak,  God  gave  me  unusual  liberty  in  preaching  Jesus 
and  the  resurrection,  and  there  were  throbbing  hearts  and  burst- 
ing emotions  throughout  the  congregation.  God  alone  can  tell 
what  became  of  the  good  seed  sown  that  day.  Doubtless  some 
of  it  fell  in  good  ground,  producing  fruit  unto  life  eternal. 
When  the  harvest  comes,  we  will  know. 

At  the  close  of  the  sermon,  the  superintendent  said  :  "  The 
President's  claim  on  Braxton  Circuit  is  just  ten  dollars,  and, 
from  the  look  and  feeling  of  this  assembly,  I  am  confident  every 
cent  of  it  can  be  raised.  Stewards,  please  proceed  and  take  up 
the  collection."  Away  went  the  two  stewards,  very  tall,  stilty- 
looking  men.  They  went  in  a  hand-gallop ;  too  fast,  I  thought, 
to  get  any  thing.  People  must  have  a  little  time  to  get  their 
purses  open.  While  this  collection  was  being  made,  I  was  say- 
ing to  myself,  "  Can  there  be  money  in  these  mountains  ?  Out 
of  what  can  it  be  made?  No  doubt  the  people  would  give  it 
if  they  had  it  to  give."     But  the  superintendent  had  faith  in 


334  KECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

his  mountaineers.  In  a  trice  the  stewards  returned  to  the  stand 
with  ten  dollars  and  twelve  and  a  half  cents.  The  superintend- 
ent thanked  the  people  for  their  liberality,  then  turning  to  me, 
said:  "This  is  a  lumber  country;  just  now  money  is  plenty,  and 
these  people  take  delight  in  paying  their  President,  and  their 
preacher,  too."  I  regarded  this  as  a  good  example,  worthy  to 
go  down,  like  their  own  clear,  mountain  stream,  into  all  the 
land  below.  Some  people,  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  always  "  make 
a  poor  mouth,"  and  give  grudgingly.  These  mountaineers  al- 
ways gave  liberally  when  they  had  it,  I  was  told,  and  only  re- 
fused when  all  their  money  was  gone.  Next  followed  the  holy 
communion,  attended  by  a  rich  flow  of  heavenly  feeling.  It 
was  a  time  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  City 
Christians,  who  have  this  privilege  once  a  month,  can  hardly 
form  an  idea  of  a  communion  season  among  mountain  Chris- 
tians, who  rarely  have  it  oftener  than  twice  a  year. 

When  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  they  all  sat  down 
again,  and  seemed  loth  to  leave  the  place.  Mr.  Skidmore,  the 
proprietor  of  the  premises,  came  to  me  and  said;  "Do  you  see 
that  man  with  a  blue  hunting-shirt  on?  He  sits  on  the  corner 
seat  to  the  right."  I  replied  in  the  affirmative.  Then  turning 
a  little  to  the  right,  he  continued:  "Do  you  see  that  high 
point  of  rocks  across  the  i-iver?"  Again  I  answered,  "Yes." 
"Well,"  said  he,  "that  man  was  born  in  a  cave  under  that  point 
of  rocks."  "Why,"  said  I,  "you  astound  me.  I  should  like 
to  know  his  history."  Mr.  Skidmore  then  gave  me  the  follow- 
ing narrative. 

"On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  the  two  Carpenters,  the 
first  white  men  that  ever  settled  in  this  country,  erected  their 
cabin.  They  were  brothers.  The  elder  had  a  wife  and  one 
child;  the  younger  was  a  single  man."  Then  pointing  still  fur- 
ther to  the  right,  Mr.  Skidmore  said :  "  About  where  the  lower 
fence  of  that  meadow  stands,  the  younger,  brother  was  killed 
by  seven  Indians.  Immediately,  the  elder  Carpenter  removed 
his  wife  and  child  to  the  cave  under  the  rocks,  and  went  in 
pursuit  of  the   Indians.      He   had  a  far-shooting,  trustworthy 


BORDER   LIFE   IN   WESTERN   VIRGINIA.  335 

rifle.  He  soon  overtook  them,  and,  at  long  range,  brought 
down  one.  The  others  all  turned  and  fired,  but  their  balls  fell 
short.  They  gave  chase  after  him;  but  he  loaded  as  he  ran, 
and,  at  a  convenient  place,  turned  and  brought  down  another. 
Then  the  Indians  halted,  and  while  they  were  trying  to  carry 
off  their  dead  companion,  he  killed  a  third,  and  before  they 
could  possibly  get  out  of  the  country,  this  daring  warrior  killed 
five  out  of  the  seven  Indians.  The  remaining  two  escaped, 
leaving  their  dead,  with  all  their  guns  and  ammunition,  behind 
them. 

"Carpenter  then  returned  to  his  cabin,  buried  his  brother,  then 
went  to  the  cave  under  the  rocks,  where  he  found,  to  his  sur- 
prise, that  during  his  absence  his  wife,  in  that  lonely  place,  had 
given  birth  to  another  son.  That  son  is  now  sitting  before  you! 
Carpenter  remained  with  his  wife  in  the  cave  until  she  was  able 
to  endure  a  removal  to  the  cabin.  Starvation  had  then  over- 
taken them ;  they  had  neither  meat  nor  bread :  as  for  tea  and 
coffee,  they  were  out  of  the  question  in  those  early  times.  The 
cows  had  not  been  heard  of  for  more  than  a  week,  so  they  had 
no  milk.  Carpenter  took  his  gun  and  went  to  the  woods  for 
game,  and,  in  a  little  time  after  his  departure,  Mrs.  Carpenter 
heard  the  cow-bell  in  the  distance,  up  a  valley" — toward  which 
Mr.  Skidmore  pointed.  "  This  wonderful  woman,  every  way 
equal  to  her  husband  in  pioneer  life,"  continued  Mr.  Skidmore, 
"  disposed  of  her  children  by  putting  the  babe  into  the  bed,  and 
tying  the  little  boy,  who  could  run  about,  to  the  bed-post.  This 
done,  she  waded  the  river,  then  a  little  over  two  feet  deep,  and 
started  after  the  cows,  fully  determined  to  have  milk  for  her 
children,  if  possible. 

"Being  feeble,  and  the  distance  greater  than  she  expected,  she 
was  absent  several  hours.  When  she  returned  to  the  river  with 
the  cattle,  to  her  profound  astonishment,  a  rain  on  the  mount- 
ains— none  had  fallen  where  she  was — had  caused  a  sudden  rise 
in  the  river  of  about  twelve  feet.  From  the  place  where  she 
stood,  she  could  plainly  see  that  the  water  was  in  the  house, 
and  already  covered  the   floor  where  her  little  boy  was  tied  1 


336  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

All  the  deep,  moving  feelings  of  a  mother's  heart  were  stirred 
within  her,  and,  with  the  courage  of  a  lion,  she  drove  the  cattle 
into  the  river,  and  as  they  went  in,  seized  one  of  the  largest 
by  the  tail,  and  over  she  went,  and  saved  her  children.  In  a 
short  time  her  husband  returned  with  game ;  so  they  had  milk 
and  meat,  if  they  had  no  bread,  and  rejoiced  together  in  their 
homely  fare  and  in  the  safety  of  their  children." 

This  is  a  little  sketch  of  border  life  in  West  Virginia  in  early 
times.  Ever  since  the  rebellion,  that  people  have  had  another 
kind  of  foe  to  deal  with,  in  most  instances  far  worse  than  the 
Indians.  They  have  needed  the  spirit  of  Carpenter  and  his 
wife  to  sweep  the  rebellion  from  their  mountains,  hills,  and 
valleys.  Blessed  be  God !  loyal  hearts  were  found  to  fight  the 
battles  of  West  Virginia,  and  she  is  now,  by  her  own  voluntary 
action,  a  free  State.  The  bodies  of  the  Carpenters  lie  entombed 
among  her  mountains,  but  their  spirits — like  that  of  Elijah  in 
John  the  Baptist — have  gone  abroad  among  her  people,  to  urge 
them  onward  to  the  battles  of  freedom  for  themselves  and  for 
the  nation;  and  to-night  (February  3,  1864,)  this  nation  is  free 
from  all  complicity  with  slavery,  not  only  by  the  Proclamation 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  but  by  the  action  of  our 
National  Legislature.  Will  Grod,  in  mercy,  now  forgive  the  sins 
of  this  nation,  restore  the  Union,  bring  this  terrible  war  to  an 
end,  and  give  us  peace  in  all  the  land ! 

In  the  northern  portion  of  the  district  I  had  much  hard 
ministerial  labor,  but  no  further  controversy  on  the  subject  of 
Church  government.  Our  cause  had  some  prosperity,  but  our 
success  in  that  quarter  has  never  been  of  a  gratifying  character. 
The  extremes  of  the  work  have  often  been  found  to  suffer,  be- 
cause the  tendency  of  our  preachers,  like  the  blood  to  the  heart, 
has  been  so  constantly  toward  the  center  of  the  Conference. 
Can  not  this  tendency  be  a  little  changed?  Let  the  warm  life- 
blood  of  the  Conference,  in  the  form  of  ministerial  piety,  tal- 
ent, and  influence,  be  thrown,  by  the  appointing  power,  to  the 
extremes,  and  prosperity  will  follow.  At  the  close  of  the  year, 
I  returned  to  my  family  in  Steubenville,  sich.     Fearing  that  I 


ATTEND   CONFERENCE.  337 

would  not  be  able  to  attend  Conference,  all  my  Conference  busi- 
ness was  committed  to  the  hands  of  Rev.  John  Cowl,  who  agreed 
to  take  care  of  my  interests,  and  convey  my  message  of  love  to 
the  brethren.  Yet,  after  all,  weak  as  I  was,  being  encouraged 
by  two  medical  friends,  I  did  make  the  effort,  and  reached 
Conference  about  the  third  day  of  the  session,  with  Mrs.  Brown 
as  my  traveling  companion. 


838  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Removal  to  Connellsville,  Pennsylvania— A  Kevival  of  Religion— Modes  of  Bap- 
tism—Camp-Mbetisg— General  CoNFEKENCE— Madison  College— Family  Afflic- 
tions. 

In  September,  1848,  the  Annual  Conference  was  held  in  Fair- 
mont, Virginia,  and  I  was  stationed  in  Connellsville,  Pennsyl- 
vania. Never  had  we  been  better  entertained  than  at  Fairmont. 
The  country  towns  have  always  done  well  by  our  Conferences. 
A  sore  spell  of  dysentery  had  reduced  me  to  a  mere  skeleton. 
I  had  been  almost  at  death's  door.  When  I  reached  the  Con- 
ference I  could  scarcely  walk,  and  on  entering  the  church  and 
seeing  the  brethren,  I  was  overcome  by  emotion,  and  could  do 
nothing  but  weep  nearly  all  that  afternoon.  In  due  time,  how- 
ever, my  strength  returned,  and  I  was  enabled  to  take  part  in 
the  business  of  the  Conference. 

That  year  I  ought  to  have  rested,  for  I  was  really  unfit  for  min- 
isterial service;  but  preachers  being  scarce,  and  the  Church  at 
that  time  without  funds  to  sustain  disabled  ministers,  I  yielded 
to  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and,  at  the  instance  of  brother 
J.  W.  Phillips,  the  lay  delegate  from  Connellsville,  I  consented 
to  be  appointed  by  the  Conference  to  Connellsville  Station  the 
following  year.  Against  I  returned  home  my  health  was  much 
improved,  and  I  felt  quite  encouraged  to  hold  on  my  way.  Af- 
fliction had  done  my  spirit  good,  and  I  felt  like  more  fully  con- 
secrating myself  to  Christ  and  his  cause.  To  be  instrumental 
in  saving  sinners  and  in  building  up  the  Church  of  Christ  was 
every  thing  now  to  me,  and  all  things  else  seemed  less  than 
nothing  and  vanity. 

In  removing  to  Connellsville,  my  household  goods  went  to 


REMOVAL   TO    CONNELLSVILLE,    PENNSYLVANIA.         339 

Pittsburgli  by  the  river,  in  a  keel-boat,  tlie  water  being  at  a 
very  low  stage.  The  children  went  across  the  country  in  my 
buggy,  while  the  remainder  of  the  family  went  by  stage  to 
Pittsburgh,  then  on  a  steamer,  with  our  goods,  to  Brownsville. 
From  that  point,  the  latter  were  taken  in  three  open  wagons,  on 
a  very  rainy  day,  to  the.  place  of  our  destination.  All  our  fur- 
niture and  other  things — about  all  we  had — were  exceedingly 
injured.  Such  is  often  the  lot  of  an  itinerant  j^rcachcr.  Those  of 
us  who  went  by  the  steamer  with  the  goods  to  Brownsville 
were  taken  by  stage  from  that  point  to  Uniontown,  thence  by 
private  conveyance  to  Connellsville.  Finally,  by  various  routes, 
no  little  trouble,  and  great  damage  to  our  property,  we  all 
reached  our  new  home,  and  were  cordially  received  by  the 
Church. 

The  Connellsville  Church  was  not  wealthy.  No  hope  of 
worldly  gain  moved  me  to  go  to  that  people.  I  went  by  invi- 
tation of  the  delegate,  and  by  appointment  of  the  Conference, 
because  in  that  Church  I  had  many  highly  valued  Christian 
friends;  and  because  my  health  required  care,  a  small  field  of 
labor  suited  me  best.  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  my  appoint- 
ment had  the  Divine  sanction,  for,  during  my  first  year  there, 
God  favored  us  with  a  glorious  revival  of  religion.  Many  souls 
were  saved  by  grace,  and  added  to  the  Church.  Yet,  in  that 
place  there  were  evil  influences  and  agencies  at  work,  which 
caused  some,  upon  whom  much  labor  and  care  had  been  be- 
stowed, to  backslide  from  the  Lord.  This  was  a  grief  to  my 
soul.  To  see  those  in  whose  conversion  I  had  entire  confidence 
grow  cold  in  religion,  neglect  the  means  of  grace,  yield  to  old 
sinful  habits,  drop  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  sacramental  host,  and 
finally  die  of  intemperance,  could  bring  me  nothing  but  grief. 
At  their  graves  I  had  no  word  of  cheer  for  surviving  friends — 
nothing  but  warning  to  sinners,  mingled  with  tears  for  the 
lost;  for  no  drunkard  can  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  in 
that  charge  there  was,  after  all,  a  sterling  membership,  real 
workers,  valuable  in  a  revival,  and  trustworthy  Christians  under 
all  circumstances.     It  may  be  added,  that  many  of  the  con- 


840  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

verts  maintained  their  integrity  to  Christ  and  the  Church,  and,  I 
trust,  will  ultimately  inherit  eternal  life. 

In  that  place  there  were  two  Baptist  Churches.  One  of  them 
of  the  old  order,  and  the  other  of  the  Campbellite  persuasion. 
Of  course,  as  is  usual  in  such  eases,  each  of  these  parties  did 
all  it  could  to  indoctrinate  the  converts,  whom  God  had  given 
us  during  the  revival,  into  the  belief  that  infant  baptism  was 
wrong,  and  that  immersion  was  the  only  Scriptural  mode  of  bap- 
tism for  adult  believers.  Before  I  was  aware  of  it,  most  of  the 
converts  had  been  visited,  and  informed,  by  those  who  could  not 
possibly  know,  that  "bapto,"  the  root  of  the  Greek  verb  to 
baptize,  and  "baptizo,"  the  derivation,  in  all  parts  of  the  New 
Testament  meant  immersion  only,  and  that  all  the  learned 
agreed  with  them  in  their  interpretation  of  the  two  words. 
After  some  time,  it  became  necessary  for  me  to  vindicate  our 
position  on  the  subject  of  baptism  before  that  community. 
This  I  did — public  notice  having  been  previously  given — in  our 
own  pulpit.  On  that  occasion  it  was  shown,  from  some  very 
learned  authorities,  that  the  two  Greek  words  in  question  had 
sundry  other  shades  of  meaning  beside,  immersion,  all  favoring 
our  view  of  the  matter ;  and  that  for  men  who  knew  nothing 
of  the  learned  languages,  and  scarcely  any  thing  of  the-ir  own, 
to  be  passing  through  my  congregation,  trying  to  make  prose- 
lytes to  the  Baptist  faith  and  order  among  the  young,  unedu- 
cated portion  of  our  Church  members,  on  the  ground  that  they 
had  all  the  learned  with  them,  when  they  afl&rmed  that  "bapto" 
and  "  baptizo,"  in  the  New  Testament,  meant  immersion  only, 
were  acting  dishonorably  and  unjustly  toward  my  people  and 
myself,  and  deserved  to  be  called  impostors.  This  vindication, 
covering  the  whole  ground  of  controversy,  and  occupying  about 
two  hours,  was  all  that  I  ever  found  it  necessary  to  say  in  de- 
fense of  our  position  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  while  in  that 
station. 

During  my  first  year  we  had  a  very  interesting  and  profitable 
camp-meeting,  in  connection  with  the  Connellsville  Circuit,  about 
five  miles  in  the  country.     At  the  meeting  the  preaching  was 


MADISON    COLLEGE.  341 

luminous,  spiritual,  and  powerful.  It  was  marrow  and  fatness 
to  Christians  of  advanced  experience ;  it  was  wine,  and  milk, 
and  honey  to  the  young  converts;  and  there  was  in  it  a  heav- 
enly power  to  awaken  and  save  sinners.  The  Church  of  which 
I  had  charge  derived  great  spiritual  advantage  from  that  meet- 
ing. Yet  the  devil  struggled  hard  to  maintain  his  ground 
against  the  Lord  and  his  anointed  Son.  Ungodly  men  strove 
to  give  us  trouble ;  but  there  were  magistrates  and  other  friends 
of  order  there,  and  we  were  protected  against  all  harm.  Most 
gladly  now,  in  my  old  age,  would  I  attend  another  such  meet- 
ing ;  but  I  suppose  I  never  shall,  for  our  people  have  no  more 
camp-meetings. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  Madison  College  was  offered  to 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  I 
had  been  called  up  from  Connellsville,  to  appear  before  the 
board  on  that  occasion.  After  giving  that  body  a  pretty  full 
history  of  our  college  efforts  and  failures,  I  declined  having  any 
thing  to  do  with  that  college  unless  it  were  tendered  by  the 
board  to  the  whole  Church,  to  be  placed  under  the  control  of 
the  General  Conference.  No  one,  two,  or  three  Conferences  in 
our  fellowship  had  the  means  or  the  patronage  to  sustain  such 
an  institution  as  it  should  be  done.  But  if  the  General  Con- 
ference would  take  it,  and  make  it  an  institution  of  learning  for 
the  whole  Church,  then,  in  my  judgment,  we  might  reasonably 
hope  for  success.  The  board  then,  by  a  resolution,  tendered 
Madison  College  to  the  General  Conference,  and  I  agreed  to 
bring  the  question  of  its  acceptance  before  all  the  Annual  Con- 
ferences, and  try  to  induce  them  to  recommend  its  adoption  by 
the  General  Conference,  which  was  to  assemble  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  in  May,  1850.  My  part  of  the  work  was  performed, 
other  friends  of  the  measure  assisting,  by  able  articles  published 
in  our  Church  papers,  on  the  importance  of  such  an  institution 
to  the  permanence  and  welfare  of  our  Church.  A  large  ma- 
jority of  the  Conferences  favored  this  college  enterprise,  and  so 
the  matter  was  left  to  the  final  action  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence. 

In  September,  1849.  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  was 


342  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITIjSTERANT   LIFE. 

held  in  Pittsburgli.  J.  W.  Phillips  was  again  the  delegate,  and, 
by  appointment  of  the  Conference,  I  was  again  stationed  in 
Connellsville.  This  was  very  gratifying  to  me,  for,  after  sus- 
taining the  pastoral  relation  to  that  kind-hearted  people  for  one 
year,  I  felt  entirely  willing  to  try  them  again.  But  to  me  this 
second  term  was  one  of  great  and  sore  afflictions  in  several  ways. 
The  preceding  was  a  year  of  revival ;  this  was  a  year  of  sifting 
out  faithless  backsliders.  Added  to  this,  my  support  fell  off, 
and  I  had  but  little  means  of  my  own  to  meet  the  wants  of  my 
family.  To  find  myself  without  the  means  to  subsist  and  clothe 
my  family,  and  to  be  getting  in  debt,  with  a  poor  prospect  of 
being  able  soon  to  pay,  was,  indeed,  very  afflicting  to  me.  A 
Church  in  a  revival  state,  full  of  heart  and  spiritual  life,  gen- 
erally supports  her  preacher  well.  But  while  the  discipline  of 
the  Church  is  being  brought  to  bear  on  faulty  members — who, 
with  all  their  defects,  have  their  friends — the  purse-strings  are 
generally  drawn  pretty  tight  upon  the  preacher.  For  fear  of 
this,  may  not  a  preacher  be  tempted  of  the  devil  to  let  corrup- 
tion in  the  Church  go  on,  "unwhipt  of  the  law,"  lest  he  should 
fall  short  in  his  support?  I  think  there  have  been  such  cases, 
and  wherever  they  have  occurred,  the  purity  of  the  Church  has 
been  bartered  away  for  the  means  of  living.  Christ  ivas  sold  for 
thirty  pieces  of  silver.  Yet  I  rejoice  to  record  the  fact  that  the 
great  body  of  Connellsville  Church,  like  Zacharias  and  Eliza- 
beth of  old,  "were  righteous  before  God,  walking  in  all  the 
commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless."  BIy 
failure  to  "receive  a  righteous  compensation  for  my  labors" 
was  not  for  want  of  means  or  will  in  these  poor  people.  A 
well-digested  financial  system  was  wanted,  and  J.  W.  Phillips, 
the  master-spirit  in  all  such  matters,  had  removed  to  Union- 
town,  and  there  was  no  good  financier  to  take  his  place.  A 
good  financial  system,  ably  executed,  is  very  important  to  min- 
isterial support. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1850,  I  attended  the  General  Confer- 
ence in  Baltimore.  At  that  Conference,  as  usual,  the  slave 
question  gave  us  trouble;  but,  as  only  a  few  memorials  on  the 
Bubject,  from  the  Churches,  came  before  the  body,  no  definite 


MADISON    COLLEGE.  343 

action  was  taken,  and  that  troublesome  question  was  left  about 
where  the  two  preceding  General  Conferences  had  placed  it. 
Such  ecclesiastical  bodies  as  ours,  limited  as  we  were  by  the 
constitution  of  the  Church,  could  do  nothing  with  it.  We  were 
not  ripe  yet  for  a  division  of  the  Church — even  that  would  not 
have  destroyed  slavery;  so  we  hung  on  to  our  constitutional 
relation  to  the  Southern  portion  of  the  Church  awhile  longer. 
The  time  of  our  deliverance  had  not  fully  come. 

At  that  General  Conference,  after  careful  examination,  it  was 
found  that  a  competent  majority  of  the  Annual  Conferences  de- 
sired that  body  to  accept  Madison  College,  as  offered  by  the 
trustees,  and  make  it  an  institution  of  learning  for  the  whole 
Church.  A  college  committee  was  created,  and  an  elaborate 
report,  full  of  legal  forms  and  technicalities,  was  drawn  up  by 
J.  H.  Deford,  Esq.,  who  was  chairman  of  the  committee.  A 
minority  report  was  also  presented.  After  both  were  read,  the 
matter  was  discussed  at  great  length.  Both  reports  were  voted 
down,  and  the  Conference  adopted  a  few  brief  resolutions,  which 
I  had  drawn  up,  in  favor  of  accepting  the  college.  Seven  com- 
missioners were  then  appointed  by  the  body,  to  visit  Uniontown 
at  the  time  of  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  in  that  place, 
the  following  September,  examine  the  college  property,  and 
either  accept  or  reject  it  for  the  General  Conference.  We 
may  here  add,  that  a  majority  of  the  commissioners  attended, 
according  to  appointment,  and,  after  due  examination,  Madison 
College  was  accepted  by  them  as  a  General  Conference  institu- 
tion. Arrangements  were  then  and  there  made  to  put  the  col- 
lege under  the  control  of  our  trustees.  When  this  was  done, 
the  duty  of  the  commissioners  was  accomplished,  and  it  never 
entered  into  their  minds  that  our  Board  of  Trustees  would  im- 
mediately commence  operations  in  regular  college  form.  So 
grave  and  important  an  undertaking  required  ample  prepara- 
tions, but  we  had  made  no  preparations  at  all.  It  was  not  long 
before  Rev.  R.  H.  Ball  was  called  by  the  board  to  take  charge 
of  that  institution,  and  a  college  was  opened,  instead  of  an 
academy  or  high-school.  This,  to  us,  was  the  beginning  of 
sorrows. 


344      '  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Before  tlie  close  of  the  aforesaid  General  Conference,  I  was 
called  home  by  a  dispatch.  My  son  George  was  seriously  ill  of 
the  typhoid  fever,  and  my  wife  of  the  pleurisy.  Mrs.  Brown's 
health  was  soon  restored,  but  it  was  a  long  time  before  my  sou 
recovered.  Almost  immediately  after  this,  my  son  Henry,  thea 
in  Pittsburgh,  was  taken  sick.  My  wife  and  I  started  to  see 
him.  We  traveled  in  a  buggy,  and  as  we  journeyed  on  through 
intense  heat,  I  had  what  is  called  a  "sun-stroke."  So,  leaving 
the  horse  and  buggy  in  Monongahela  City,  in  care  of  a  friend, 
with  whom  we  spent  the  night,  and  where  I  suffered  great  pain, 
we  went  the  next  day,  by  steamboat,  to  Pittsburgh.  There  I 
received  medical  assistance,  found  my  son  better,  and  in  about 
one  week  my  wife,  Henry,  and  I  all  returned  home  together, 
in  rather  feeble  health.  Not  long  after  this,  I  was  stricken 
down  myself  with  typhoid  fever,  and  lay  about  three  weeks  in 
a  very  low  condition,  without  any  visible  change  for  the  better. 
After  I  had  been  sick  about  ten  days,  my  wife,  worn  out  with 
constant  nursing  and  care,  fell  sick  of  the  bilious  dysentery. 
So,  here  we  were,  both  in  bad  condition  as  to  health,  and  most 
of  our  neighbors  were  afraid  to  come  to  the  house  to  render  any 
assistance  in  taking  care  of  us,  lest  they  should  take  the  typhoid 
fever,  or  the  cholera,  which  my  wife  was  supposed  to  have. 
Yet  a  few  of  them  did  commit  themselves  to  the  risk  of  ren- 
dering us  help  in  our  distress,  for  which  we  were  very  thankful 
to  God  and  to  them. 

During  my  illness  I  was  wonderfully  favored  of  the  Lord  in 
several  respects.  1.  I  had  the  full  use  of  my  mental  faculties 
all  the  time.  2.  I  had  grace  given  me  according  to  my  day 
and  trial.  I  was  very  happy  in  the  Lord.  3.  I  had  not  only 
a  skillful,  but  a  very  sympathizing  Christian  physician  to  at- 
tend me.  4.  Every  day  I  could  learn  that  not  only  our  own 
members,  but  those  of  other  Churches,  were  praying  for  me- 
Satan  was  kept  at  a  distance,  and  the  Saviour  was  with  me  all 
the  time.  One  morning,  two  consulting  physicians,  after  exam- 
ining the  cases  of  my  wife  and  myself,  withdrew  to  the  far 
corner  of  my  room,  and  there,  in  a  low  whisper,  talked  the  mat- 
ter over.     The  fever  had  quickened  my  hearing,  so  that  I  dis- 


FAMILY   AFFLICTIONS.  345 

tinctly  heard  all  they  said.  Among  other  things,  I  heard  them 
say  that  "  there  was  no  chance  to  raise  either  of  us,  unless  they 
could  salivate  us."  On  hearing  this,  I  laughed  so  loud  that 
they  heard  me,  and  came  to  inquire  what  had  moved  me  to 
laughter.  "Why,"  said  I,  "my  end  has  come;  you  have  just 
pronounced  my  doom.  If  my  recovery  depends  upon  my  being 
salivated,  you  can't  do  that;  it  has  been  tried  by  several  physi- 
cians, and  they  all  failed,  and  you  will,  too;  so  my  end  has  come. 
Then  I  laughed  again  for  joy.  Doctors  Lindley  and  Fuller 
were  pleased  to  find  me  so  whole-hearted,  and  spoke  of  certain 
preparations  of  calomel,  which  they  were  certain  would  salivate 
me,  if  I  would  agree  to  have  the  trial  made.  "Gentlemen," 
said  I,  "  you  can  salivate  my  wife,  but  you  can  not  succeed  with 
me.  However,  I  am  in  your  hands,  and  have  not  the  least  ob- 
jection to  your  making  the  trial  on  us  both.  Save  my  wife  if 
you  can,  but  me  you  can  not  save."  After  a  little  rest  and 
reflection,  I  told  them,  "  whether  they  salivated  me  or  not,  I  did 
believe  that  God  would  raise  me  up,  for  it  was  impressed  on 
my  heart  that  all  my  work  for  Christ  was  not  yet  done."  The 
trial  was  made.  With  my  wife  it  succeeded;  with  me  it  was 
an  utter  failure.  No  preparation  of  calomel  would  do,  nor 
would  any  mode  of  application,  however  combined  with  acids, 
answer  the  purpose,  and  they  were  left  to  wonder  what  sort  of 
a  constitution  I  had.  At  last,  the  disease  gave  way,  and  grad- 
ually God  restored  me  to  health  again,  without  being  salivated. 
Yet,  from  that  time  to  the  present,  my  left  shoulder  has  been 
weak.  To  make  a  forward  motion  with  my  arm  I  have  full 
power;  but  in  putting  on  my  coat,  requiring  rather  a  backward 
motion,  I  lack  strength  to  raise  my  left  arm.  Other  weak- 
nesses of  my  system  were,  with  care,  gradually  overcome,  and 
my  health  since  that  time,  generally  speaking,  has  been  perma- 
nently good. 

During  my  protracted  illness  and  slow  recovery,  my  pulpit 
was   pretty  well   supplied  by  the  ministerial  brethren  in   that 
vicinity,  and  the  kind-hearted   people  of  my  charge  attended 
faithfully  to  the  wants  of  my  family. 
22 


346  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

CONFEBENCE   tN  TJNIONTOWN,   PeNNSTLVAXIA— REMOVAL  TO  MANCHESTER  CIRCUIT  IN  VlB- 

GiNiA— Elected  President— Elected  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  oj" 
Madison  College— Tour  throuoh  West  Virginia— Re-elected  President  of  Pitts- 
burgh Conference— Removal  to  Umontown,  Pennsylvania— Funeral  of  Rev.  Asa 
Shinn— Resignation  of  the  President  of  Madison  College— Elected  President 
pro  tem.  of  College— Return  to  the  Labors  of  the  District. 

In  September,  1850,  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  was 
held  in  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  where  it  was  most  comfortably 
entertained  by  the  Church  and  citizens.  It  was  a  very  harmo- 
nious session,  and  made  a  favorable  impression  on  the  public 
mind.  I  went  to  it  in  very  feeble  health,  being  scarcely  able 
to  ride  in  my  buggy,  with  my  wife  driving.  When  I  got  there 
I  was  unable  to  take  any  part  in  the  transactions  of  the  body; 
and  when  the  commissioners  went  to  examine  Madison  College, 
as  directed  by  the  General  Conference,  I  had  to  be  conveyed 
in  a  carriage.  At  that  Conference  there  was  a  desire  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  brethren  to  put  me  into  the  Presidency; 
but,  owing  to  the  state  of  my  health,  I  had  to  decline  that  labo- 
rious office.  Indeed,  it  was  a  matter  of  doubt  with  me  whether 
I  ought  to  take  any  appointment  or  not.  But  the  stationing 
committee,  with  whom  I  left  my  case,  wishing  to  retain  me  in 
the  work,  finally  appointed  me  to  Manchester  Circuit,  among 
my  relatives,  where  the  work  was  light,  and  the  probabilities 
of  a  competent  support  good.  To  this  appointment  I  gave  my 
most  hearty  consent,  and  returned  home  to  prepare  for  our  re- 
moval, which  proved  very  fatiguing.  My  eldest  son  and  my 
daughter  went  by  buggy.  The  rest  of  us  were  taken  by  car- 
riage to  Brownsville,  and  from  thence  by  steamboat  to  the  place 
of  our  debarkation.     We  were  landed,  jibout  midnight,  goods 


REMOVAL    TO    MANCHESTER   CIRCUIT.  347 

end  all,  on  tlie  river  bank,  near  the  residence  of  John  Brown, 
a  relation  of  mine.  Having  been  attacked  with  something  like 
cholera,  on  the  boat,  shortly  after  leaving  Pittsburgh,  I  was 
scarcely  able  to  reach  the  house  of  my  relative.  When  there, 
by  a  free  use  of  John's  cholera  medicine  and  a  warm  foot-bath, 
I  was  relieved,  and  slept  soundly  until  morning.  The  holy  Sab- 
bath-day had  then  come,  and,  weak  as  I  was,  I  attended  Divine 
service,  and  spoke  to  the  people  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The 
next  day  our  goods  were  moved  to  the  parsonage  in  New  Man- 
chester, where  we  resided  among  very  pleasant  neighbors  for 
about  two  years. 

On  this  circuit,  all  things  considered,  I  had  a  pleasant  year, 
and  the  Church  had  some  prosperity.  But  circumstances,  orig- 
inating with  other  agencies,  over  which  I  could  not  possibly 
have  any  control,  and  which,  owing  to  my  full  confidence  in 
the  Christian  integrity  of  those  concerned,  I  will  not  narrate 
in  this  reminiscence  of  jjast  life,  greatly  obstructed  my  useful- 
ness, and  to  that  extent  interfered  with  my  happiness;  for  use- 
fulness and  happiness  are  very  closely  associated  in  my  creed. 
All  these  matters  have  long  since  gone  by.  Let  them  be  buried, 
never  to  have  a  resurrection,  and  let  my  most  unfeigned  love 
be  confirmed  to  those  concerned,  now  and  forever.     Amen. 

Owing  to  the  circumstances  above  alluded  to,  or  to  some 
other  cause  not  known  to  me,  my  meager  salary  on  Manchester 
Circuit  was  not  fully  paid.  But  in  those  days  I  had  a  living 
friend,  Bev.  Charles  Avery,  who  occasionally  assisted  me  in  an 
emergency;  and  to  bring  me  through  the  year  in  credit  and 
safety,  he  sent  me  a  present  of  two  hundred  dollars.  Wheu 
that  man  died,  I,  and  thousands  of  others,  lost  a  real  friend. 
But  his  bright  example  still  lives;  may  it  always  animate  the 
Church!  I  had  on  that  circuit  a  goodly  number  of  relatives: 
the  Browns — James,  John,  Jacob,  and  George — their  sisters, 
the  two  Mrs.  Hewitts,  Mrs.  Brenneman,  and  one  unmarried  sis- 
ter, Elizabeth.  They  were  nearly  all  members  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church — plain,  sensible.  Christian  people.  I  loved 
them  much,  and  often  wished,  if  it  could  be  so,  to  arrange  mat- 
ters so  as  to  finish  my  course  on  earth  among  th,em.     Of  my 


348  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

own  brothers  and  sisters,  who  have  nearly  all  passed  away,  it 
grieves  me  to  say  that  no  two  of  them  rest  in  the  same  ceme- 
tery, so  greatly  have  we  been  scattered  in  life  and  in  death. 
Even  my  dear  father  and  mother  lie  in  separate  graveyards. 
I  have  often  felt  a  wish  to  rest  in  death  among  my  own  rela- 
tions. God  has  taken  to  himself  my  five  sons — all  I  had — and 
they  are  buried  in  different  places,  distant  from  each  other. 
Well,  let  it  he  so  ;  let  me  not  murmur  against  Providence.  The 
resurrection  morning  will  bring  us  all  together  again;  one 
heaven,  I  trust,  will  be  our  home  at  last.     Such  is  my  hope. 

In  September,  1851,  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  was 
held  in  Morgantown,  Virginia.  The  Church  and  citizens  of 
that  hospitable  place  entertained  the  Conference  in  their  best 
style,  and  the  impression  made  by  the  body  on  the  public  mind 
was,  in  all  respects,  favorable  to  our  young  Church.  Rather 
contrary  to  my  expectations,  I  was  elected  to  the  presidency 
again.  During  this  Conference,  the  brethren  took  two  perpetual 
scholarships,  at  five  hundred  dollars  each,  in  Madison  College; 
and  shortly  afterward  the  Board  of  Trustees  took  from  our 
itinerant  ranks  Dr.  P.  T.  Laishley,  to  act  as  agent  for  that  in; 
stitution.  We  all  felt  a  deep  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  our 
newly-adopted  college. 

On  my  return  home,  it  was  agreed  by  the  brethren  that  I 
might  remain  in  the  occupancy  of  the  parsonage,  as  the  preacher 
appointed  to  that  circuit  was  a  single  man,  and  did  not  need 
the  house;  and  as  my  salary  the  preceding  year  had  not  been 
fully  paid,  they  would  charge  me  no  rent.  This  was  both  kind 
and  just  to  iTie.  My  family  being  pleasantly  situated  among  a 
very  orderly  people — mostly  under  Presbyterian  influence — 
where,  at  that  time,  there  was  no  intemperance,  Sabbath-break- 
ing, or  profanity,  we  all  felt  like  remaining  in  3Ianchester.  All 
the  central  parts  of  the  district  were  visited  during  the  fall  and 
winter.  The  condition  of  the  circuits  and  stations  was,  in  the 
main,  good.  In  consequence  of  high  water  in  March,  I  found 
great  difficulty  in  meeting  my  appointments  along  the  Ohio 
River,  in  Western  Virginia.  I  went  by  steamboats  from  cir- 
cuit to  circuit,  then  out  on  horseback,  to  fill  my  appoiutmenta. 


UNFAITHFULNESS    IN   THE    MINISTRY.  349 

My  river  tour  ended  witli  Jackson  Circuit,  at  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio.  In  no  portion  of  this  trip  did  I  feel  myself  to  be  in 
Paradise;  yet  God  took  care  of  me,  and  at  the  end  of  about 
five  weeks  I  returned  by  steamer  safely  to  my  family. 

I  remained  a  short  time  at  home,  to  rest,  recruit  my  health, 
and  prepare  for  further  duties  on  the  district.  My  next  tour 
was  up  toward  Lake  Erie,  in  North-western  Pennsylvania. 
About  the  first  of  May,  with  health  not  very  firm,  I  was  ofi" 
from  home,  to  be  absent  until  near  the  middle  of  July.  In  con- 
sequence of  great  rains  of  several  days'  continuance,  I  found 
the  roads  almost  impassable.  Deep  mud,  and  streams  greatly 
swollen,  very  much  impeded  my  progress.  I  had  thrown  "Lize" 
out  of  the  service.  "Lucy,"  the  animal  I  now  had,  was  equal  in 
durability  and  trustworthiness,  but  not  in  speed.  Yet,  bad  as 
traveling  was,  I  reached  all  my  appointments  in  time.  It  will 
be  enough  to  say  of  this  tour  in  the  district,  that  it  was  one 
of  great  labor  and  considerable  success.  On  several  circuits 
there  were  revivals  of  religion,  and  the  Churches  were  prosper- 
ing. To  this  the  Conneaut  Circuit  was  an  exception,  having 
been  almost  wholly  neglected  by  the  superintendent.  The  mem- 
bership on  that  circuit  had  their  mouths  full  of  complaints  to 
me  against  their  preacher,  for  his  inefficiency  in  attending  to  his 
work.  He  declined  appearing  at  Conference  to  answer  for  his 
conduct,  but  wandered  oif  to  the  West,  got  into  worldly  specu- 
lations, and  for  several  years  mixed  preaching  and  speculating 
together,  until,  at  last,  we  heard  no  more  of  him ;  and  Conneaut 
Circuit,  from  the  date  of  his  mission  there,  began  to  decline, 
and  is  now  not  numbered  among  the  appointments  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh Conference.  Such  is  the  result  of  unfaithfulness  iri  the 
ministry.  The  preacher  who  takes  an  aj)pointment  from  Con- 
ference comes  under  a  moral  obligation  to  that  body,  to  that 
circuit  or  station,  and  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  to  discharge 
all  the  duties  legitimately  connected  with  that  appointment 
faithfully,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  to  the  end  of  the  Confer- 
ence year.  Do  not  let  him  plead  a  want  of  support  as  a  reason 
for  neglecting  his  work ;  for  when  a  preacher  faithfully  performs 
his  whole  duty,  Christ  generally  puts  it  into  the  hearts  of  the 


350  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

people  in  the  Church,  or  outside  of  it,  to  supply  his  wants. 
But  unfaithfulness  will  tighten  the  purse-strings  of  any  people. 
Who  wants  to  feed  and  clothe  an  idle  drone?  Is  it  not  the 
law  of  the  Lord  that  "  if  a  man  will  not  work,  neither  shall  he 
eat?" 

At  Johnstown,  where,  at  that  time,  we  had  a  promising  little 
Methodist  Protestant  community,  I  completed  the  labors  of  my 
tour,"  and  returned  home  through  most  intense  heat.  I  found 
all  well,  but  was  myself  very  much  worn  down  with  long-con- 
tinued hard  labor.  "VVe  still  have  a  good  meeting-house  in 
Johnstown,  and  a  few  excellent  members;  but,  from  some  cause, 
for  several  years  past  they  have  taken  no  preacher  from  Con- 
ference. Why  is  this?  In  that  rapidly-growing  place  we  might, 
I  think,  have  a  prosperous  Church,  if  the  right  kind  of  meas- 
ures were  adopted.  The  truth  of  the  matter  I  take  to  be  this : 
we  lack  a  competent  number  of  well-qualified  ministers  to  build 
up  the  cause  of  Christ  in  certain  localities.  The  people  want  a 
preacher  to  suit  the  place,  or  none  at  all.  So  the  cause  runs 
down,  and  so  it  will  continue  to  run  down,  until  the  Church 
does  more  than  heretofore  to  give  her  itinerant  ministers  a 
competent  training  for  the  work.  We  must  keep  up  with  the 
age  in  education,  or  suffer  loss.  Our  doctrinal  and  ecclesias- 
tical principles  are  certainly  good,  but  they  require  well-trained 
men  to  carry  them  out  in  all  the  land.  Principles  require  agen- 
cies to  .establish  them  among  the  people ;  they  do  not,  by  their 
own  abstract  weight,  establish  themselves. 

Having  rested  a  short  time  with  my  family  at  home,  I  took 
my  son  George  for  a  traveling  companion,  and  set  out  on  a  long 
tour  to  the  Greenbrier  country,  in  Western  Virginia.  Having 
been  informed  of  my  election  to  the  presidency  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Madison  College,  and  that  they  were  in  some 
trouble  at  that  institution,  I  took  Uniontown  in  my  route,  in 
view  of  ascertaining,  if  practicable,  what  was  the  matter.  It  waa 
about  this,  if  I  remember  accurately:  Certain  students,  in  their 
literary  society,  had  introduced  resolutions  supposed  to  contain 
sentiments  disrespectful  to  the  character  and  position  of  the 
President  of  the  college.     Being  high-spirited,  they  would  not 


^        TOUR   THROUGH   WESTERN    VIRGINIA.  351 

retract,  so  the  faculty  expelled  them.  The  case  then,  accordiuf 
to  the  character,  came  before  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  a  tinal 
hearing.  That  body,  overawed  by  the  fliculty,  and  fearing  the 
resignation  of  some  or  all  of  the  professors,  confirmed  the 
expulsions,  supposing  it  better  to  sustain  even  an  unduly  rigor- 
ous action  of  the  faculty  than  to  give  up  the  college.  Against 
all  this  weakness,  the  President  of  the  board,  who  was  a  man 
of  irritable  temper,  made  a  speech  of  a  most  vexatious  and  ex- 
asperating character.  He  was,  in  that  case,  certainly  right  in 
principle,  but  his  manner  was  not  suited  to  our  civilization ;  so, 
in  the  annual  election  he  lost  his  position,  and  I  was  chosen  ia 
his  place.  On  looking  into  this  matter  fully,  I  could  not  see 
that  I  could  afford  to  let  the  faculty  override  the  chartered 
rights  of  the  board,  if  I  could  possibly  hinder  it,  any  more 
than  my  predecessor;  but  I  could  be  more  respectful  to  all  the 
parties  concerned  in  temper  and  language.  As  I  was  then  Pres- 
ident of  the  Conference,  I  could  not  hope  to  meet  often  with 
the  board.  Once  a  quarter  was  all  that  I  could  promise,  and  it 
was  supposed  that  would  be  often  enough,  so  I  proceeded  ou 
my  journey  to  the  mountains  of  Virginia. 

My  first  appointment  was  on  Barbour  Circuit.  The  congre- 
gation was  very  large.  A  congressional  election  was  just  at 
hand,  and  the  candidates  were  there.  In  the  house,  during  serv- 
ice, they  were  very  civil  and  respectful,  but  before  and  after 
public  worship,  they  were  busy  in  all  directions  among  the  peo- 
ple, even  on  the  Sabbath-day,  striving  to  secure  votes.  Who 
can  fully  comprehend  the  arts  and  devices  of  a  winding,  slippery, 
serpentine  politician?  And  what  preacher  can  hope  to  do  any 
religious  good  in  the  f)resence  of  such  a  i^olitical  influence  as 
was  felt  to  be  there?  I  think  it  likely  that  my  efforts  to  do 
good  at  that  meeting  were  all  in  vain. 

The  next  morning,  early,  George  and  I  were  ofi"  for  the 
Huntersville  Circuit.  We  reached  Beverly  the  first  night,  and 
were  kindly  entertained  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Earle,  where  we 
rested  one  day.  Then,  going  out  by  the  head  of  Tygart's  Val- 
ley a  little  after  nightfall,  we  came  to  Mr.  Nace's,  and  were 
comfortably  entertained.     The  next  day,  having  no  further  any 


352  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

graded  road,  we  found  it  very  difficult  to  travel  with  a  buggy 
along  a  blind  path,  obstructed  by  rocks  and  fallen  timber  and 
mud.  From  the  Gatewood  Farm  to  Elk  River  our  difficulties 
came  near  being  insurmountable.  Finally,  we  came  to  Mr.  Gib- 
son's, on  Elk  River,  about  two  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  rested  there 
until  the  next  morning.  When  morning  came,  we  made  an 
early  start  for  brother  Buckley's,  on  Greenbrier  River,  the  place 
of  my  meeting  for  Huntersville  Circuit.  In  passing  across  the 
mountain  from  the  Elk  to  the  Greenbrier  River,  I  became  over- 
heated. It  was  toward  the  last  of  August,  and  the  scorching 
power  of  the  sun  overcame  me  as  I  walked  up  the  mountain. 
A  strong  rush  of  blood  to  my  brain  bewildered  me,  and  George, 
who  was  ahead  with  the  buggy,  had  to  turn  back  and  help  me 
along.  I  then  concluded  to  ride,  but  was  scarcely  able  to  drive; 
so  George  took  me  and  the  whole  establishment  in  charge.  That 
dear  son  was  of  great  service  to  me,  as  I  was,  indeed,  a  very  sick 
man.  When  we  came  to  the  river,  we  turned  aside,  up  stream, 
to  the  house  of  Mr.  Gay,  and  there  I  received  the  best  of  at- 
tention from  that  kind  family,  and  by  the  next  morning  was 
ready  to  go  on  my  way  to  my  appointment  at  Buckley's.  Our 
meeting  at  that  place  was  well  attended  by  our  members  from 
all  parts  of  the  Huntersville  Circuit,  and  by  some  from  other 
Churches  who  differed  from  us  in  doctrine.  One  man,  with  a 
very  shrill  voice,  kept  George  and  me  awake  nearly  all  the  first 
night,  arguing  with  his  bedfellow  on  the  foreknowledge  and 
eternal  decrees  of  God.  When  unable  to  sustain  the  notion 
that  God  had  decreed  all  things  that  came  to  pass  as  being  in- 
consistent with  man's  free  agency  and  accountability,  he  would 
fall  back  to  foreknowledge.  "All  men  must  admit  fore- 
knowledge," he  said,  "and  knowledge  has  a  binding  force  on 
human  actions."  How  did  that  man  discover  there  was  a  bind- 
ing force  in  knowledge?  If  God  knew  that  man  would  sin,  He 
knew  he  would  act  freely  in  doing  the  very  thing  which  had 
been  forbidden  under  the  highest  penalty;  and  if  He  knew  he 
would  act  freely  in  sinning.  He  knew  that  His  knowledge  would 
have  no  compulsory  influence  in  bringing  about  the  sinful  trans- 
action.    If  God's  knowledge  of  all  the  actions  of  created  beings, 


TOUR   THROUGH   AVESTERN   VIRGINIA.  353 

good  and  evil,  has  a  biuding  force  on  ttose  actions,  so  as  to 
compel  tliem  to  be  exactly  what  they  are,  may  not  God's  knowl- 
edge of  what  He  intends  to  do  himself  have  a  binding  force 
on  His  own  actions,  so  as  to  leave  us  the  amazingly  absurd  con- 
clusion that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  freedom  of  action  in  the 
universe,  and  that  God  himself  is  bound  in  the  chains  of  fate 
by  His  own  knowledge?  All  manner  of  crimes  are  forbidden 
by  Divine  authority,  yet  God's  infinite  knowledge  extends  with 
a  compelling  force  to  all  those  crimes,  we  are  told,  necessitating 
them  to  come  to  pass!  Thus  God's  knowledge  is  brought  to 
overthrow  His  own  government,  and,  along  with  this,  to  destroy 
His  own  personal  freedom,  and  bind  Him  and  the  whole  intel- 
ligent universe  in  the  chains  of  fate.  After  this  manner  I 
reasoned,  while  kept  awake  by  that  shrill-voiced  man,  arguing 
with  his  bedfellow. 

But  to  return  to  the  meeting  at  Buckley's.  The  church  was 
far  too  small  to  contain  the  people ;  so  we  went  to  a  neighbor- 
ing grove,  and  God  gave  me  unusual  strength  and  liberty  that 
day  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  That  assembly,  collected  from 
the  mountains  and  valleys  of  the  Greenbrier  region,  seemed 
hungry  for  the  Word  of  Life.  The  message  of  grace  which 
Christ  sent  to  them  that  day  by  me  was  well  received.  They 
drank  in  the  word  as  the  thirsty  earth  drinketh  in  the  rain. 
City  congregations,  who  have  so  much  preaching,  do  not  appre- 
ciate or  enjoy  a  Gospel  sermon  as  do  the  mountaineers.  Among 
them  it  was  not  deemed  a  crime,  nor  yet  a  breach  of  order,  to  say 
"amen"  when  an  emphatic  sentence  in  the  sermon  pleased  them; 
and  to  praise  the  Lord  for  the  manifestations  of  grace  was  con- 
sidered a  general  pi-ivilege.  When  I  saw  that  God  was  at  work 
among  the  people,  their  amens  and  hallelujahs  never  disturbed 
me;  nor  did  the  tears  and  sobs  and  cries  of  the  penitents  for 
mercy.  These  things  all  belonged  to  the  school  of  Christ  in 
which  I  had  been  trained,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  I  under- 
stood them  well.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon  came  the  holy 
communion.  It  was  a  time  of  great  mercy — a  season  of  abun- 
dant refreshing;  for  Christ  was  with  his  people,  and  we  all  re- 
joiced together  in  hope  of  a  better  life  to  come. 


354  KECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

The  meeting  closed  that  evening.  It  ought  to  have  been 
protracted.  I  think  the  results  would  have  been  valuable  to 
the  Church;  but,  as  I  had  appointments  ahead,  I  had  to  leave 
very  soon  for  brother  Cochran's,  at  the  Droop  Mountain,  where 
I  preached  the  next  day  to  a  large  congregation.  Again  God 
gave  me  liberty  in  preaching  His  word,  and  I  trust  good  to 
the  people  was  the  result  of  my  labors.  In  that  region  I 
had  many  dear  friends — among  them  brother  Jesse  Cochran, 
who  gave  me  a  namesake  among  the  boys  of  his  household. 
At  the  time  of  the  battle  at  the  Droop  Mountain,  I  thought 
of  all  my  old  friends  in  that  vicinity,  and  wondered  whether 
they  were  for  or  against  the  Union.  As  they  had  no  slaves,  I 
think  they  had  no  interest  in  the  rebellion,  and  my  hope  is  that 
they  remained  loyal  to  the  United  States.  The  next  day  after 
we  reached  Cochran's,  George  and  I  went  home  with  brother 
Eli  Taylor,  who  lived  at  a  distance  of  about  five  miles,  a  little 
ofi"  from  the  direct  road  to  Frankfort,  the  place  of  my  meeting 
for  Greenbrier  Circuit.  In  consequence  of  heavy  rains  and 
high  water,  we  were  detained  at  Taylor's  until  Saturday  morn- 
ing, and  it  was  even  then  with  great  difficulty  that  we  forded 
the  streams  and  reached  our  destination.  The  meeting  at 
Frankfort  was  one  of  great  interest,  but,  owing  to  circumstances 
which  I  need  not  detail,  it  had  to  be  closed  on  Sunday  evening. 
Brother  William  Bolton  was,  if  I  remember  correctly,  rendering 
service  that  year  on  both  Huntersville  and  Greenbrier  Circuits. 
He  has  since  joined  the  Baptist  denomination;  and  I  leave  it  on 
record  in  this  sketch  of  the  past,  that  he  was  considered  in  the 
Greenbrier  country  to  be  a  man  of  excellent  character  and  a 
valuable  minister ,  of  Jesus  Christ.  My  dear  George,  who  is 
now  in  heaven,  and  who  always  had  a  social  heart,  became 
greatly  attached  to  brother  Bolton  and  to  the  Greenbrier  friends 
generally.     There  was  much  in  that  region  to  interest  him. 

On  Monday  morning  we  started  for  the  camp-meeting  on 
Braxton  Circuit.  Going  across  to  the  Lewisburg  and  Kanawha 
pike,  we  lodged  at  a  tavern  that  night' at  the  foot  of  the  great 
Sewell  Mountain,  on  the  west  side.  The  next  morning  we  were 
prevented  from  taking  an  early  start  by  finding  that  our  horse 


CONFERENCE    IN    PRUNTTTOWN.  355 

had  got  out  of  the  stable,  and  was  gone,  we  knew  not  where. 
We  all  supijosed  that  she  was  stolen,  but  a  brief  hunt  brought 
her  from  a  field  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  George  and  I  were 
much  pleased  to  see  her  again,  and,  after  feeding  her,  we  started 
for  Summerville,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Nicholas  County.  By 
taking  a  right-hand  road,  about  ten  o'clock,  we  shortened  the 
distance,  and  reached  our  destination  a  little  after  dark.  The 
hard  hills  and  hot  weather  had  exhausted  all  my  energies,  but 
George  was  blithe  and  gay,  and  waited  on  me  and  attended  to 
"Lucy"  as  though  he  had  not  felt  the  heat  or  the  hills  that 
day.  Such  is  the  difference  between  youth  and  age.  After 
sleeping  soundly  through  the  night,  and  getting  an  early  break- 
fast in  the  morning,  we  were  off  from  Summerville  for  the  camp- 
meeting  on  Braxton  Circuit.  The  roads  being  muddy,  the  trav- 
eling was  hard  that  day ;  but,  a  little  after  sundown,  we  reached 
Suttouville,  and  were  kindly  entertained,  free  of  charge,  by  John 
Camden,  who  kept  the  only  public  house  in  the  place.  The 
next  day,  by  twelve  o'clock,  we  came  to  the  house  of  Richard 
Walker,  superintendent  of  Braxton  Circuit.  There  we  rested 
until  the  following  morning,  and  then  went  on  with  brother 
Walker  and  his  family  to  the  camp-meeting.  The  ministerial 
help  expected  did  not  come,  so  the  labors  of  the  meeting  fell 
too  heavily  upon  me ;  yet,  as  was  my  day,  so  was  my  strength. 
God  gave  us  an  unusually  good  camp-meeting.  Walker,  now 
among  the  rebels,-  was  a  most  indefatigable  and  successful  la- 
borer at  that  meeting.  During  the  last  night,  even  on  until 
the  morning  light  appeared,  his  voice  could  be  heard  in  a  large 
prayer-meeting  tent,  near  the  preachers'  stand.  The  fruits  of 
that  meeting  will  be  seen  in  eternity. 

My  labors  for  the  year  were  now  ended.  Next  came  the  Con- 
ference in  Pruntytown,  in  September,  1852.  On  our  way  there, 
George  and  I  stopped  awhile  in  Weston,  with  Mr.  George  A. 
Jackson  and  Mrs.  B.  J.  Hodgson,  brother  and  sister  of  my 
wife.  They  and  their  children  and  George  and  I  had  a  very 
pleasant  time  together  for  a  few  days.  When  at  Conference  in 
Pruntytown,  my  home  was  with  William  Kimble.  His  parents 
had  often  entertained   me,  and   I   loved  them  much  j  so  I  did 


356  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

William,  who  was  an  amiable  member  of  the  Methodist  Prot- 
estant Church.  But,  somehow  or  other,  the  rebels  drew  him 
into  their  ranks,  as  they  have  several  others  whom  I  tenderly 
loved,  in  West  Virginia.  How  can  I  ever  forgive  the  rebellion 
for  these  breaches  made  in  the  ranks  of  my  friends?  How  can 
I  ever  forgive  the  efforts  which  they  have  made  to  destroy  the 
government  of  my  country  and  its  friends?  At  the  thought 
of  their  crimes,  even  an  old  Universalist  admitted  to  me,  a 
short  time  ago,  that,  "in  relation  to  future  punishment,  he  had 
changed  his  mind :  he  now  believed  in  an  eternal  hell  for  rebels 
and  traitors.  My  conclusion,  when  I  heard  this  speech,  was, 
if  rebels  and  traitors  deserve  an  eternal  hell  for  their  present 
rebellion  against  the  best  human  government  upon  earth,  then, 
certainly,  eternal  punishment  is  due  to  all  sinners  who,  in  league 
with  the  devil  and  his  angels,  dare  to  live  and  die  in  rebellion 
against  the  holy  and  perfect  government  of  God.  I  shall,  if 
spared,  try  to  press  this  conclusion  home  on  my  old  friend 
when  we  meet  again. 

But  to  return  from  this  digression."  The  Conference  in  Prun- 
tytown  was  most  liberally  sustained  by  our  Church,  the  other 
Churches,  and  the  citizens.  The  impression  made  by  the  body 
on  the  public  mind  was  altogether  favorable  to  our  interests 
as  a  Christian  denomination.  At  that  Conference  I  was  elected 
President  for  the  last  time.  I  then  returned  to  my  family  in 
Hancock  County,  Virginia,  and  immediately  removed  to  Union- 
town,  Pennsylvania.  This  grew  out  of  a  desire  to  be  able  to 
render  some  service  to  Madison  College,  as  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees.  Moreover,  I  wanted  to  educate  my  son 
George  at  that  institution.  This  change  of  residence  was  very 
fatiguing,  and  proved  quite  injurious  to  our  household  goods. 
It  is  hardly  worth  while  for  itinerant  preachers,  who  are  sub- 
ject to  constant  removals,  to  have  valuable  furniture,  to  be 
abused  in  all  sorts  of  ways  while  in  transition  from  place  to 
place.  In  a  short  time  after  I  got  my  family  comfortably  situ- 
ated in  Uniontowu,  I  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trust- 
ees, to  ascertain  as  nearly  as  I  could  the  state  of  affairs  at  the 
college,  and  what  duties  I  would  be  expected  to  perform,  and 


FUNERAL    OF   REV.    ASA   SHINN.  357 

then  went  forth  to  my  appointed  labors  on  the  Pittsburgh  Dis- 
trict. The  central  parts  were  visited  during  the  fall  and  win- 
ter, and,  generally  speaking,  the  Churches  were  found  to  be  in 
a  healthy  condition.  During  that  winter  my  physical  energie 
were  very  much  exhausted  by  hard  labor,  and  I  began  to  feel 
it  to  be  entirely  wrong  for  me  to  be  so  much  from  home.  My 
family  needed  my  presence,  and  my  whole  nature,  soul  and 
body,  needed  rest.  A  weakness  in  the  lower  limbs,  a  soreness 
in  the  diaphragm,  and  a  constant  determination  of  blood  to  the 
brain,  began  to  admonish  me  that  my  itinerant  toils  must  be 
brought  to  a  close.  Yet  I  loved  itinerant  life,  and  hardly  knew 
how  to  lock  the  wheels  which  so  long  had  rolled  me  on,  and 
call  a  final  halt. 

Just  as  I  was  about  to  close  my  labors  in  the  Sharpsburg 
Station,  and  return  to  my  family  in  Uniontown,  the  remains  of 
Rev.  Asa  Shinn,  who  had  died  in  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  were 
brought  home  to  his  family,  in  Alleghany,  for  interment,  and 
I  was  called  upon  to  preach  his  funeral  sermon  in  the  Alle- 
ghany church.  His  death  occurred  on  the  11th  of  January, 
1853.  0,  how  I  felt  my  inability  to  do  justice  to  the  mental, 
moral,  spiritual,  and  ministerial  character  of  that  good  and  great 
man  of  God!  lie  had  been  under  a  dark  mental  cloud  for  eight 
or  nine  years,  but  now  had  gone  forth  to  the  clear  light  of  an 
eternal  day.  Will  I  ever  see  his  like  again?  Shinn,  Snethen, 
and  Jennings — wjiat  a  trio ! — all  giants  in  the  Christian  min- 
istry, all  leading  reformers,  and  all  have  passed  away  to  their 
home  in  heaven !  Jennings  was  classically  educated,  yet  always 
yielded  the  palm  of  greatness  to  the  other  two;  they,  in  turn, 
conceded  it  to  him.  Shinn  and  Snethen,  both  self-made  men, 
were  always  found  each  to  prefer  the  other  before  himself,  and 
neither  of  the  three  has  left,  in  any  of  the  Churches,  a  supe- 
rior. Their  greatness  clothed  them  with  deep  humility  of  mind 
and  childlike  simplicity  of  manners.  They  were  lovely  men, 
and  left  to  the  Church  the  bright  example  of  a  holy  life. 

On  my  return  to  my  family  in  Uniontown,  I  found  there  was 
trouble  in  Madison  College.  In  consequence  of  some  disagree- 
ment between  the  President,  Rev.  R.  H.  Ball,  and  his  subordi- 


358  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

nates  in  the  faculty,  whicli  bore  very  hard  ou  Mr.  Ball's  health, 
and  sorely  afflicted  his  mind,  he  determined  to  resign  his  posi- 
tion in  the  college.  This  step,  no  doubt,  met  the  approbation 
of  the  remaiuing  members  of  the  faculty,  but  it  by  no  meaus 
suited  the  views  and  wishes  of  the  trustees.  Were  the  truth 
fully  known,  I  think  it  was  to  gratify  Mr.  Ball  that,  in  the  out- 
set, a  college  was  started  instead  of  a  high-school,  and  now  for 
him,  in  consequence  of  trouble  which  ought  to  have  been  left 
to  the  trustees  to  settle,  to  leave  the  institution  so  soon,  was 
not  satisfactory  to  the  board,  the  students,  the  citizens,  nor  the 
friends  and  patrons  of  the  college  generally.  An  appeal  was 
then  made  to  Bev.  Francis  Waters,  D.  D.,  to  come  and  take  the 
presidency  of  the  college.  He  answered  to  our  call,  came  out 
from  Baltimore  to  see  us  in  our  troubles,  and  agreed  to  accept 
the  position,  but,  in  consequence  of  existing  engagements,  could 
not  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  until  the  following  Sep- 
tember. Meantime,  to  carry  on  the  college,  the  board,  by  the 
advice  of  both  Ball  and  Waters,  elected  me  to  serve  as  Presi- 
dent jpro  (em.,  until  the  collegiate  year  should  close.  So,  here 
I  was,  "Jack  in  a  pinch" — many  a  time  I  have  been  "Jack  in 
a  pinch  " — compelled  into  service  when  every  body  else  failed. 
He  who  presides  in  a  College  should,  in  my  judgment,  un- 
derstand, with  critical  accuracy,  all  that  is  taught  in  such  an 
institution,  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  and  have  good  executive 
abilities.  But  my  qualifications  would  not  come  up  to  this 
standard,  as  I  was,  mainly,  self-taught;  and  with  all  my  might  I 
remonstrated  against  my  2)'>^o  tern,  appointment,  but  all  to  no 
purpose,  as  it  was  affirmed,  by  Dr.  Waters  and  others,  that  very 
few  Presidents  were  thorough  masters  of  the  lohule  college  course 
of  instruction.  When  nothing  else  would  do,  I  consented  to 
serve  as  best  I .  could.  Mental  and  Moral  Science,  Logic, 
Natural  Theology,  and  Ancient  and  Modern  History  belonged 
to  my  chair.  All  of  these  branches  had  been  my  favorite 
studies  in  former  years,  as  closely  connected  with  my  minis- 
terial calling,  and  I  thought  myself  able  to  teach  them,  and 
did  feel  in  my  heart  a  confidence  that,  with  the  blessing  of 
God,  I  could  govern  the  college  without  *a  war  with  my  col- 


RETURN   TO    THE    LABORS    OF   THE    DISTRICT.  359 

leagues  or  witli  the  trustees.  So,  Rev.  Noble  Gillespie  took  my 
place  on  the  district  for  about  three  months,  and  I  attended  to 
all  his  work  in  the  Uuiontown  Station,  and  performed  the  du- 
ties of  President  in  Madison  College  to  the  end  of  the  year. 
Our  annual  commencement  was  a  credit  to  the  institution.  Dr. 
Waters  was  there,  and  delivered  his  inaugural  address,  which 
was  very  highly  appreciated  by  the  people. 

My  term  of  service  in  the  college  being  at  an  end,  and 
brother  Gillespie  having  returned  to  the  labors  of  his  station, 
after  filling  my  appointments,  I  took  my  son  George  again  for 
a  traveling  companion  on  the  district  in  North-western  Penn- 
sylvania. Our  route  led  us  through  Johnstown  and  to  the  Sus- 
quehanna country;  thence  to  Jeflferson,  Clarion,  Pleasant  Valley, 
and  Gerrard,  near  lake  Erie.  From  the  last-mentioned  point  we 
turned  south,  to  a  camjj-meeting  near  the  Ohio  line,  on  Sharon 
Circuit.  We  were  out  from  home  about  nine  weeks.  The 
weather  was  excessively  hot ;  the  traveling  in  a  mountainous 
country  was  very  fatiguing  to  man  and  horse;  my  labor  at  the 
various  meetings  was  too  great  for  my  strength,  and  my  health 
at  one  time  was  so  much  broken  down,  that  for  about  one  week  I 
had  to  be  nursed  by  kind  friends  on  the  Clarion  Circuit.  When 
I  reached  home,  all  my  physical  energies  were  so  far  exhausted 
as  to  produce  a  conviction  in  my  mind  that  itinerant  life  with 
me  must  now  be  brought  to  a  final  close.  Had  it  not  been  for 
the  untiring  watchfulness  and  care  of  my  dear  son,  who  managed 
the  horse  and  buggy  and  attended  to  all  my  wants,  I  could  not 
have  accomplished  the  trip  at  all.  After  attending  an  excel- 
lent camp-meeting  near  Counellsville,  Pennsylvania,  where  I 
preached  but  once — there  being  other  good  ministerial  brethren 
there  to  perform  the  labor — I  returned  home  to  prepare  for  the 
Conference,  which  was  held  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  Sep- 
tember, 1853.  At  that  Conference,  being  worn  out  in  the  serv- 
ice, the  brethren  granted  me  a  superannuated  relation  at  my 
own  request.  To  be  compelled,  by  the  enfeebled  state  of  my 
health,  to  retire  from  the  itinerant  ranks,  where  I  had  labored 
so  long,  moved  me  to  tears,  and  I  never  shall  forget  the  balmy 
sympathy  of  kind  friends  who  clustered  round  me  with  wprds 


360  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

of  encouragement.  That  was  an  interesting  and  impressive 
Conference,  handsomely  entertained  by  our  people,  assisted  by 
the  community,  and  made  a  good  impression  in  favor  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  on  the  public  mind.  Yet  there 
was  one  thing  that  occurred — a  little  too  painful  to  be  written — 
which  gave  me  no  little  trouble  for  several  years.  Will  God, 
in  mercy,  be  pleased  to  give  me  the  charity  that  hopeth  all 
things  and  never  faileth. 


REV.    FRANCIS    WATERS.    D.  D.  361 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Eev.  Francis  Waters,  D.  D.,  President  of  Madison  College— His  Resignation— Ret. 
S.  K.  Cox,  President— Pecuniary  Embarrassments  in  College  Affairs— General 
Conference  of  1851- The  Enteuing-wedge  of  Church  Division— Cholera  Durino 
THE  Session  of  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Confeuence  in  Alleghany— Visit  as  Fra- 
ternal Messenger  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  at  Blairsville,  Penn.— Serious  Trouble  at  the  College— Expulsion  of  a 
Student— Ei-.consideration  of  the  Sentence  UR<iED— Threat  of  the  Faculty  to  Re- 
sign UNLESS  Sustained  by  Board  of  Trustees— Faculty  Sustained— Visit  to  Cincin- 
nati—Military Discipline— Prophetic  Opinion  on  Political  Matters  Expressed 

BY  Ex-GoVERNOR  BeANCH,  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA- SECESSION  OF  FACULTY   AND  FOUNDINO 

OF  AN  Institution  AT  Lynchburg— Election  to  the  Presidency  of  Madison  College. 

Being  now  free  from  itinerant  service,  and  without  any  in- 
come from  the  Church,  I  aimed  to  make  a  living  for  myself 
and  family  by  kee^jing  boarders,  but  could  not  succeed.  From 
first  to  last,  I  sunk  money  by  the  operation.  Nor  was  this  all. 
Heavy  duties  devolved  upon  my  wife,  which  gradually  wore 
down  her  feeble  constitution.  Yet  we  were  ambitious  to  sustain 
our  family,  and  continued  at  that  business,  much  as  we  disliked 
it,  as  long  as  we  remained  at  Uaiontowu.  But,  in  the  winding 
up,  I  found  that  I  had  drawn  heavily  on  my  own  means  in- 
stead of  making  a  living  by  boarding  students.  The  fact  is, 
we  did  not  understand  the  business,  had  not  the  tact  for  it  nor 
the  health  to  undergo  its  toils,  and  from  it,  on  the  score  of 
prudence,  should  have  abstained. 

During  my  jpro  tern,  presidency  in  the  college,  Rev.  William 
Collier  was  in  the  presidency  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  In  a 
short  time  he  relinquished  that  office,  and  the  board  reelected 
me  to  my  former  position.  When  the  college  was  opened,  on 
the  1st  of  September,  Dr.  Waters,  having  removed  with  his 
family  to  Uniontown,  took  his  position  as  President,  and  every 
heart  was  glad ;  for  he  was  a  man  of  venerable  age,  of  a  com- 
manding person,  a  thorough  scholar,  an  able  minister  of  the 
23 


862  RECOLLECTIONS    OP    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Gospel,  a  perfect  geutleman  ia  his  social  habits,  and  one  of  the 
foremost  educators  in  our  country — the  very  man  to  build  up 
our  institution.  This,  I  believe,  was  the  universal  ojiinion  in 
relation  to  our  newly-elected  President.  But  in  about  two 
months,  owing  to  causes,  as  the  Doctor  informed  me,  not  con- 
nected with  the  college,  or  the  Board  of  Trustees,  or  the  citi- 
zens, and  not  revealed  to  any  one,  he  left  the  college  and 
returned  to  Maryland.  As  we  had  been  greatly  elevated  in 
our  hopes  and  expectations  by  his  coming,  we  were  propor- 
tionally distressed  by  his  resignation  and  departure.  Professor 
Newell,  at  the  instance  of  Dr.  Waters,  then  took  charge  of  the 
institution,  and  the  work  went  on  as  usual;  but  it  was  easy  to 
see,  at  home  and  abroad,  that  public  confidence  was  very  much 
shaken. 

Before  Dr.  Waters  left  Uniontown,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
sought  his  advice  as  to  a  suitable  person  to  be  his  successor. 
He  recommended  Rev.  S.  K.  Cox,  who  was  at  that  time  sta- 
tioned in  Georgetown,  D.  C.  Immediately  a  correspondence 
■was  opened  by  the  board  with  Mr.  Cox,  who  accepted  the  po- 
sition, and  in  a  short  time  came  on.  Again  confidence  began 
to  revive,  for  we  found  Cox  to  be  a  well-educated,  ardent  young 
man,  a  good  preacher,  of  fine  social  habits,  and  did  not  doubt 
but  he  would  do  all  he  could  to  build  up  the  college  and  win  for 
himself  a  high  reputation  as  a  first-class  educator.  In  a  short 
time,  however,  we  had  reason  to  believe  him  to  be  somewhat 
visionary,  but  did  not  dread  evil  results  to  the  college,  as  he 
was  amiable  in  his  intercourse  with  the  trustees,  and  very  labo- 
rious in  the  discharge  of  all  his  duties  in  the  institution.  Mat- 
ters for  some  time  moved  on  very  well.  God  gave  us  a  revival 
of  religion  in  the  Church.  Many  of  the  students  were  the  sub- 
jects of  saving  grace,  and  the  President  of  our  college  proved 
himself  to  be  a  valuable  laborer  in  that  revival,  and  thereby 
gained  an  extensive  influence  over  the  students  and  among  the 
people  at  home  and  abroad. 

But  it  will  be  necessary  to  turn  back  a  little  in  the  history 
of  events.  In  the  month  of  March,  1853,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
determined  on  the  erection  of  an  addition  to  the  eolle2:e  build- 


EMBARRASSMENTS    IN    COLLEGE  AFFAIRS.  363 

ings,  at  a  cost  of  §3,200.  The  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
was  to  pay  one-half  of  this  amount,  and  the  citizens  of  Union- 
town  the  other ;  and  agents,  one  for  each  of  the  parties,  were 
then  appointed  by  the  board  to  raise  the  required  funds  to  ac- 
complish the  object.  According  to  our  contract  with  the  build- 
ers, the  money  was  to  be  paid  in  four  installments :  one-fourth 
when  the  foundation  was  laid,  another  when  the  roof  was  on, 
another  when  the  carpenters'  work  wa«  done,  and  the  balance 
when  the  whole  job  was  completed.  As  before  stated,  at  the 
conclusion  of  my  labors  in  college,  I  had  gone  out  to  finish  my 
year  in  the  Conference  district  as  President.  When  I  returned, 
the  building  had  progressed  finely.  Two  payments  were  then 
about  due.  The  citizens  had  paid  up ;  eight  hundred  dollars  were 
due  from  the  Church,  and  our  agent  had  made  no  collections! 
All  of  this  was  very  painful  and  mortifying  to  me,  especially 
as  the  board  determined  that  one  or  the  other  of  two  things 
must  now  forthwith  be  done.  Either  we  must  abandon  the 
building  enterprise  altogether,  or  I  must,  by  some  means,  raise 
eight  hundred  dollars,  to  meet  the  Church's  part  of  the  pay- 
ments, then  due. 

I  took  a  little  time  for  reflection,  and  was  sorely  grieved  at 
the  failure  of  our  agent.  We  had  pulled  down  an  old  building 
to  put  up  a  new  one  in  its  place.  Unless  we  finished  the  new 
building,  we  could  not  carry  on  a  college  at  all,  for  want  of 
room.  The  idea  of  abandoning  it  altogether  did  not  suit  me, 
as  I  knew  the  Church,  from  the  beginning,  had  suffered  much 
for  want  of  such  an  institution.  Nor  did  it  suit  me  to  assume 
the  responsibility  of  borrowing  eight  hundred  dollars.  Yet,  to 
save  the  character  of  the  Church,  and  relieve  myself  from  un- 
speakable mortification,  and  to  open  up  the  way  for  the  college 
to  go  on,  I  did,  with  Daniel  Huston  for  security,  borrow  of 
Mrs.  Rachael  Skiles  the  eight  hundred  dollars  to  pay  the  work- 
man. To  meet  the  other  payments  on  behalf  of  the  Church, 
as  they  fell  due,  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  by  far  too 
much  of  my  own  money;  yet  the  whole  was  fully  paid.  In  my 
judgment,  that  new  addition  to  the  college  building  ought  not 
to  hav^e  cost  the  Church  one  cent.     The  citizens  should  have 


364  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

borne  the  entire  expense  of  its  erection,  as,  by  our  carrying  on 
a  college  among  them,  they  had  the  advantage  of  educating 
their  sons  at  home,  and  the  students  expended  a  great  deal  of 
money  in  Uniontown. 

In  May,  1854,  the  General  Conference  was  held  in  Steuben - 
ville,  Ohio.  This  was  the  last  time  the  North  met  the  South  in 
General  Conference.  For  sixteen  years  the  constitutional  liberty 
of  the  press  had  been  broken  down  by  the  Book  Committee,  in 
Baltimore,  to  please  slaveholders.  The  Fugitive-slave  Law, 
enacted  by  Congress  in  1850,  by  which  Northern  freemen  were 
compelled  to  be  slave-catchers  for  Southern  slaveholders,  was 
doing  our  Church  great  injury  in  all  the  free  States.  There 
being  left  in  our  Church  no  medium  of  free  communication  for 
thought  and  argument  against  the  great  moral,  political,  and 
domestic  evil  of  slavery,  it  was  thought  best,  by  the  members 
of  the  General  Conference  who  were  from  the  free  States,  to  get 
that  body  to  establish  a  book  concern  and  a  Church  paper,  un- 
der its  own  control,  somewhere  in  the  West.  To  be  degraded 
into  slave-catchers  for  the  South,  and  have  no  medium  through 
which  to  utter  a  complaint,  offer  an  argument  or  a  remonstrance, 
under  General  Conference  authority,  was  most  provoking  to  our 
people,  and  led  to  a  constant  drain  of  our  members  off  to  other 
Churches  in  the  North.  But  the  committee  in  this  case,  com- 
posed of  Northern  and  Southern  members,  could  not  agree  to 
report  in  favor  of  a  book  concern  in  a  free  State,  under  General 
Conference  control.  The  South,  evidently,  was  afraid  that  a 
free  press,  in  Northern  hands,  would  a.ttack  slavery  and  bring 
trouble  into  the  General  Conference.  The  final  action  of  that 
body  was  to  authorize  the  establishment  of  a  book  concern  and 
Church  paper  in  the  West,  under  the  control  of  such  Annual 
Conferences  as  favored  the  measure,  allowing  the  new  estab- 
lishment their  proper  share  of  the  funds  of  the  book  concern 
at  Baltimore.  At  the  same  time,  to  make  things  even,  the  latter 
was  placed  under  the  management  of  the  Southern  Conferences ; 
and  the  Conferences  North  and  South  were  authorized  to  carry 
on  their  publishing  interests  by  the  action  of  conventions. 

Here  it  will  be  seen   that,  to  accommodate  the  slave  power, 


ENTERING-WEDGE   OF   CHURCH    DIVISION.  365 

whicli  at  that  time  had  a  firm  hold  on  the  vitals  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church,  an  important  portion  of  the  constitu- 
tional work  of  our  General  Conference  was  thrown  out  from 
under  the  control  of  that  body,  to  be  subjected  to  the  regula- 
tions of  conventions  wholly  unknown  to  the  constitution  of  our 
Church.  Here,  too,  it  will  be  seen  that  Church  division  was 
commenced.  A  Church  that  will  not,  on  account  of  slavery,  or 
any  thing  else,  work  together  in  sustaining  vital  interests  of 
a  constitutional  character,  can  not  possibly  remain  united  to- 
gether. The  members  of  that  body  generally  thought  their 
action  to  be  a  "peace  measure;  "  and  that,  as  nothing  published 
on  the  slave  question,  by  authority  of  these  outside  conventions, 
could  ever,  in  future,  come  before  the  General  Conference  to 
disturb  its  harmony,  henceforth  the  North  and  South  would 
be  at  peace  among  themselves.  I,  however,  was  of  a  difi"erent 
opinion,  and  so  was  Dr.  Armstrong,  of  Tennessee.  We  were 
the  only  members  of  that  body  who  opposed  the  measure  as 
tending  to  division.  The  Doctor  protested  against  the  action ; 
I  did  not,  but  declared  it  to  be  my  conviction  that  the  General 
Conference  had  "started  an  entering-wedge — division  would  fol- 
low." When  I  sat  down,  with  a  sad  heart,  unable  to  restrain 
my  tears.  Dr.  Thompson,  of  Virginia,  came  to  me  to  soothe  my 
feelings,  and,  in  the  blandest  tones  possible,  said:  "I  regard  this 
as  a  peace  measure.  The  slavery  question  can  no  more  come  into 
the  General  Conference,  and,  as  we  shall  have  nothing  to  quarrel 
about,  all  will  be  peace  in  future."  "But,"  said  I,  "where  will 
be  the  use  of  a  General  Conference  at  all,  when  all  our  gen- 
eral interests  are  thrown  out  to  be  managed  by  conventions?" 
"  There  will  be  our  missions  and  our  college,"  he  replied.  I 
was  glad  to  obtain  from  him  the  least  hint  favorable  to  these 
important  interests,  especially  the  college  enterprise,  as  in  that 
I  was  deeply  interested ;  and  it  gave  me  unspeakable  pleasure 
to  witness,  on  the  part  of  the  Conference,  such  a  commendable 
zeal  to  promote  the  welfare  of  our  literary  institution  at  Union- 
town. 

It  is  my  firm  belief  that  the  friends  of  the  foregoing  "peace 
measufe  "  were  all  of  them  sincere.     Yet,  on  mature  reflection, 


366  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT   LIFE. 

after  tlieir  *eturn  to  their  homes,  they  were  not  satisfied  with 
what  they  had  done,  and  it  was  soon  most  unmistakably  under- 
stood that  this  peace  measure  had  waked  up  the  spirit  of  war ;  for 
a  desire  was  almost  immediately  eviuced  by  some  of  the  members 
of  the  General  Conference,  who  had  favored  the  action  of  that 
body  to  call  a  convention,  at  once  to  dissolve  our  connection,  in 
order  to  avoid  any  further  encroachments  on  our  constitutional 
rights  by  the  slaveholders  of  the  South.  To  accomodate  them,  we 
had  been  deprived  of  the  constitutional  liberty  of  the  press  for 
sixteen  years,  and  now  they  had  so  managed  as  to  get  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  to  befriend  slavery  again,  by  throwing  out  the 
book  concern  and  Church  papers  to  the  unconstitutional  con- 
trol of  conventions.  The  truth  is,  our  Churches  in  the  free 
States  were  then  in  a  condition  where  men  of  reason  and  re- 
ligion could  not  easily  be  satisfied;  but  the  time  for  division 
had  not  yet  fully  come. 

From  the  middle  of  May,  1854,  to  the  month  of  September, 
in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  the  north-eastern  parts  of  Ohio, 
there  fell  no  rain,  of  any  account,  to  nourish  the  earth.  There 
was  a  general  failure  in  the  crops.  Provisiong  were  very  scarce, 
and  could  only  be  purchased  at  exorbitant  prices.  The  distress 
among  the  poor  was  exceedingly  great  the  following  fall  and 
winter.  That  year  I  sunk  money  by  boarding  students  at  a 
slightly  increased  price;  but  still  I  retained  my  boys  and  did 
the  best  I  could.  The  students  must  have  accomodations  or  go 
home,  and  the  college  run  down,  which  would  have  been  a  grief 
to  all  its  friends,  for  at  that  time  it  was  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition. I  will  here  record  the  generosity  of  my  old  friend 
Rev.  C.  Springer.  Hearing  of  the  famine,  he  sent  me,  from  the 
vicinity  of  Zanesville,  Ohio,  all  the  way  to  Uniontown,  Penn- 
sylvania, four  barrels  of  apples,  to  help  me  through  the  winter, 
for  which  I  felt  very  thankful.  God  and  my  friends  helped  me, 
and  I  did  all  I  could  to  help  myself  and  to  aid  those  who  were 
worse  off  than  I  was,  for  even  poor  men  may  assist  one  another. 

In  September,  1854,  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  was 
held  in  Alleghany.  There  came  a  great  rain,  the  first  we  had 
had  of  any  special  advantage  to  vegetation  for  more  than  three 


MATTERS    AT    MADISON    COLLEGE.  367 

montlis.  Immediately  the  cholera  made  its  appearance  in  the 
cities  of  the  two  rivers,  in  the  most  alarming  form.  Rev.  H. 
T.  Layton,  one  of  our  excellent  itinerant  ministers,  fell  by  that 
disease  so  suddenly  that  many  of  his  brethren  in  Conference 
had  not  yet  been  informed  of  his  illness.  Several  other  mem- 
bers of  the  body  were  attacked,  but  by  skillful  medical  treat- 
ment, under  the  Divine  blessing,  they  recovered.  For  fear  of 
this  terrible  scourge,  several  left  for  home.  When  Conference 
was  over,  and  I  was  about  leaving,  being  delayed  a  little  ia 
Pittsburgh  on  business,  my  turn  came  to  feel,  for  the  third  time 
in  my  life,  what  it  was  to  be  stricken  down  by  the  cholera.  By 
the  aid  of  appropriate  remedies,  I  was,  in  a  short  time,  so  far 
recovered  as  to  be  able  to  return  to  my  family;  but  it  waa 
several  months  before  my  health  was  fully  restored. 

At  that  Conference,  in  the  midst  of  so  much  cholera  excite- 
ment and  alarm,  the  Western  Virginia  Conference  District  was 
set  off,  very  much  to  my  grief.  The  brethren  in  that  region 
did  not  appear  to  favor  the  anti-slavery  views  and  feelings  of 
the  Pennsylvania  portion  of  the  old  Pittsburgh  Conference.  A 
new  district  they  thought  would  enable  them  to  extend  the 
work,  and  they  would  feel  more  comfortable  by  themselves;  so 
the  brethren  agreed  to  let  them  go.  There  was,  undoubtedly, 
an  overruling  Providence  in  this  matter,  as  well  as  in  the  action 
of  the  General  Conference  in  Steubenville.  God  was  preparing 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  the  free  States  to  escape 
from  the  troubles  which  He  saw  were  coming  on  the  country 
in  consequence  of  slavery.  Many  a  time  have  I  found  that 
things  that  caused  me  the  greatest  grief  had  in  them  the 
greatest  good,  upon  the  whole,  when  events  more  fully  disclosed 
the  designs  of  Providence. 

It  will  now  be  proper  to  give  some  further  account  of  mat- 
ters at  Madison  College.  This  is  deemed  appropriate  as  a  part 
of  my  own  personal  history.  Early  in  March,  1855,  at  the 
request  of  Rev.  S.  K.  Cox,  President,  I  took  charge  of  his 
classes,  while  he  went  to  attend  the  Maryland  Conference,  on 
business  pertaining  to  the  college,  and  taught  until  near  the 
end  of  the  month,  when  he  returned  and  resumed  his  place  and 


368  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE, 

duties  again.  On  Sunday  morning,  the  18tli  of  Marcli,*  while 
I  was  attending  an  appointment  in  the  country,  three  of  the 
students  who  boarded  at  my  house,  among  whom  was  Washing- 
ton Harbaugh,  were  requested  to  go  into  the  room  occupied  by 
W.  and  C.  Bailey  until  their  own  room  was  put  in  order — the 
Baileys  and  other  boarders  being  absent  at  Sunday-school. 
While  there,  Harbaugh  took  a  book  and  read,  but  the  other 
two  students  put  bits  of  paper  in  under  the  lid  of  W.  Bailey's 
desk  to  tease  him.  They  all  then  returned  to  their  own  room. 
After  church,  the  Baileys  came  in,  and  W.  Bailey,  on  seeing 
the  bits  of  paper  sticking  under  the  lid  of  his  desk,  became 
very  angry,  and  said  Harbaugh  had  been  in  his  room  playing 
tricks  on  him.  One  of  the  students,  anxious  for  mirth,  went 
and  informed  Harbaugh  that  he  was  accused.  Out  stepped  Har- 
baugh and  denied  the  charge.  Bailey  called,  him  a  liar.  He 
again  denied  the  charge;  then  Bailey  repeated  the  declaration 
that  he  was  a  liar.  Harbaugh  instantly  took  him  by  the  throat, 
and  a  fight  ensued.  The  students  who  had  played  the  trick 
separated  them,  explained  the  matter,  cleared  Harbaugh,  and 
took  the  blame  on  themselves.  Still,  Bailey  persisted  in  calling 
Harbaugh  a  liar. 

After  preaching  that  night,  Mrs.  Brown  gave  me  a  statement 
of  all  the  foregoing  particulars.  It  grieved  me  much  that  any 
of  my  boarders,  over  whom  I  watched,  and  for  whom  I  prayed 
to  God  continually,  should  have  outraged  all  moral  order  and 
got  into  a  fight.  So  I  went  up  to  talk  to  W.  Bailey  about  the 
impropriety  of  fighting,  but  found  him  in  bed,  fast  asleep.  I 
then  went  into  Harbaugh's  room,  and  talked  with  him  a  long 
time  concerning  the  improper,  disgraceful,  dog-like  practice  of 
fighting.  He  admitted  all  I  said  to  be  true,  but  insisted  that 
"  there  was  no  other  way  to  deal  with  such  fellows  as  Bailey 
but  to  choke  them,  and  he  meant  to  choke  back  that  lie  on 
Bailey  the  next  morning."  I  then  told  him  not  to  dare  to  do 
such  a  thing;  I  prayed  to  God  in  my  house,  and  could  not 
allow  fighting  among  my  boarders.  So,  after  warning  him 
against  indulging  in  anger,  I  left  him  for  the  night,  hoping  he 

*I  liera  transciibe  from  a  document  written  a  little  after  tliat  timo. 


SERIOUS    TROUBLE    AT   MADISON    COLLEGE.  869 

would  bo  cooled  off  by  morning.  A  good  sleep  often  overcomes 
blind  passion. 

In  the  morning  the  young  gentlemen  all  ate  their  breakfasts 
quietly  together,  and  then  started  to  college.  On  the  way,  Har- 
baugh  called  upon  Bailey  to  take  back  that  lie  that  he  had 
charged  him  with.  Bailey  refused  to  do  so,  and  then  a  fight  im- 
mediately came  off,  which  was  pretty  sore  on  both  sides.  It 
was  just  over  as  I  came  up.  After  prayer  and  roll-call  in  col- 
lege, I  reported  the  case  to  the  faculty,  and  requested  that  due 
attention  should  be  given  to  it,  and  that  the  institution  should 
be  saved  from  any  further  disgrace  by  their  fighting.  As  they 
both  belonged  to  the  preparatory  department,  I  supposed  that 
such  correction  as  they  deserved  would  be  administered  by  the 
Principal.  But  a  meeting  of  the  faculty  was'  called  for  one 
o'clock  P.  M.  The  parties  were  summoned  to  appear.  The 
students  from  my  house,  and  myself,  were  called  as  witnesses. 
All  the  other  witnesses  testified  before  me,  and  screened  the 
boys  all  they  could.  Then  I  was  called,  and  said  I  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  matter,  only  what  my  wife  had  told  me.  The  fac- 
ulty replied  that  would  be  taken  as  evidence,  and  directed  me 
to  proceed.  I  did  so,  and  gave  all  the  particulars  as  they  oc- 
curred at  my  house,  as  my  wife  had  stated  them  to  me.  A 
part  of  my  testimony  was,  that  "  W.  Bailey  called  Harbaugh  a 
liar  twice,  and  then  the  fight  began."  Perceiving  that  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  faculty  talked  among  themselves  while  I  was 
testifying,  and  fearing  that  I  was  not  understood,  I  repeated 
my  words:  "  W.  Bailey  called  Harbaugh  a  liar  twice,  and  then 
the  fight  began."  Still,  I  was  not  understood;  for,  in  making 
up  their  award,  ten  demerit  marks  were  given  to  Washington 
Harbaugh  for  calling  W.  Bailey  a  liar !  This  was  putting  the 
saddle  on  the  wrong  horse;  it  was  neither  kind  to  me,  nor  just 
to  Harbaugh,  who,  when  he  got  his  sentence,  left  the  room  in 
a  rage  and  went  home,  being  in  no  condition  of  mind  for  col- 
lege duties  that  afternoon. 

Finding  what  was  done,  and  how  Harbaugh  was  grieved  at 
the  injustice  done  him  by  the  faculty,  I  desired  him  to  be 
calm,  and  I  would  have  the  mistake  rectified;  and  so  I  did,  the 


370  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

next  morning,  and  reported  that  fact  to  Ijim  before  morning 
prayer.  To  this,  however,  he  paid  no  attention  ;  for,  when  called 
on  by  Professor  Carroll  to  give  an  excuse  for  absence  from 
recitation,  the  previous  afternoon,  he  replied,  cj-ustily,  "I  was  at 
home,  sir."  "That  won't  do,"  said  Carroll,  "You  must  have 
a  better  excuse  than  that.  I  can't  take  that.  Any  gentleman 
could  say,  I  was  at  home.'  "Were  you  sick  ?  or  what  was  the 
matter?  Answer  me,  sir."  His  manner  was  quite  tart.  I  was 
near  enough  to  hear  every  word,  and  felt  that  two  angry  spirits 
were  now  in  conflict.  "You  did  me  injustice  yesterday,"  said 
Harbaugh.  "  You  gave  me  ten  demerit  marks  for  calling  Bill 
Bailey  a  liar,  when  Mr.  Brown  testified  that  it  was  Bill  Bailey 
that  called  me  a  liar;  and  I  '11  go  home  when  I  please,  and  stay 
at  home  as  much  as  I  please."  He  was  greatly  excited  and 
very  impertinent,  and  the  feeling  of  the  faculty  was  roused 
against  him  to  the  highest  pitch.  One  of  them,  who  stood  near 
me,  said  "his  very  blood  boiled,"  and  all  of  them  evinced  con- 
siderable vindictiveness  of  spirit,  on  that  occasion,  against  Har- 
baugh. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  submit  two  remarks.  1.  Harbaugli 
got  into  the  quarrel  through  the  fault  of  others.  They  stuck  the 
bits  of  paper  into  the  desk.  He  was  accused;  he  denied  the 
charge,  and  was  called  a  liar;  so  the  trouble  began.  2.  An 
unjust  sentence  passed  upon  him  by  the  faculty,  right  in  the 
teeth  of  my  testimony,  twice  repeated,  led  to  all  the  following 
impertinence.  He  was  made  to  suffer  for  the  fault  of  others. 
On  this  account  I  was  constrained  to  pity  him,  and  try  to  get 
him  fair  play  in  all  his  troubles.  He  had  very  high  mettle,  but 
was  of  a  noble,  generous  spirit. 

Young  Harbaugh,  now  fairly  in  the  current,  was  swept  along, 
and  his  ultimate  destiny  seemed  inevitable.  At  one  o'clock 
that  day,  he  was  called  before  the  faculty  again,  under  charge 
of  impertinence  to  the  officers  of  the  college.  They  were  now 
avenging  themselves  on  that  boy  for  disrespect  provoked  by  the 
injustice  of  their  own  administration.  The  case  required  ten- 
derness, as  they  were  a  party  concerned;  but  it  got  none.  Five 
demerit  marks  for  being  absent  from  recitation  the  preceding 


EXPULSION    OF    A    STUDENT.  871 

afternoon,  and  twenty  for  impertinence  to  the  faculty  that 
morning,  were  given  him.  This  I  had  from  themselves.  As 
Harbaugh  was  leaving  the  room,  after  getting  his  sentence,  he 
turned  back  and  stood  in  the  door,  and  said:  "Gentlemen,  make 
out  your  bill,  and  when  I  have  got  enough  demerit  marks,  I'll 
go  home."  For  this  they  gave  him  twenty-five  more,  on  the 
spot,  which  made  the  whole  amount  one  hundred  and  two.  So, 
that  evening  the  faculty  reported  him  to  me,  at  my  owa 
house — expelled!  Up  to  that  evening,  I  did  not  know  the  na- 
ture of  their  demerit-mark  system,  or  that  one  hundred  marks 
expelled  a  student  from  college.  I  supposed  the  marks  were 
designed  to  go  on  the  monthly  reports,  and  be  sent  home  to  the 
parents  and  guardians,  as  an  indication  of  a  young  gentleman's 
standing  at  college,  and  to  be  followed  by  letters  from  home 
of  an  admonitory  character.  But  now  I  began  to  see  that  the 
college  was  under  new  regulations,  which  were  not  known  to  or 
sanctioned  by  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

I  was  requested  by  the  faculty  to  carry  their  decision  into 
execution  for  them  the  next  morning.  My  age  and  character, 
it  was  said  by  them,  would  give  it  weight.  I  excused  myself 
from  performing  the  task,  and  said  I  was  a  member  of  the 
board,  not  of  the  faculty.  The  case,  according  to  the  charter, 
must  come  before  the  trustees;  then  would  be  my  time  to  act. 
I  then  requested  them  to  change  the  sentence  to  sending  him 
home,  instead  of  expulsion.  To  expel  a  student,  and  so  pub- 
lish it  in  the  annual  catalogue,  was  a  deadly  injury.  A  student 
so  expelled  and  published  could  not  enter  any  other  reputable 
college  in  the  land.  But  merely  to  send  him  home  was  a  sen- 
tence that  left  him  under  no  such  disabilities,  and  it  would  as 
fully  relieve  them  of  any  further  trouble  in  the  case  as  would 
expulsion.  To  this  they  finally  agreed.  I  then  ventured  a 
little  further  with  these  angry  men,  and  pleaded  hard  that  the 
sentence  of  sending  home  might  not  be  executed  until  the  Pres- 
ident's return,  but  could  not  prevail.  It  grieved  me  sorely  to 
see  three  young  gentlemen,  of  fine  talents  and  literature,  indulg- 
ing so  much  ill-feeling  against  a  delicate  youth,  of  a  noble  heart, 
•who  had  been  brought  into  trouble  by  the  faults  of  others,  and 


372  KECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

maialy  by  their  own.  The  injustice  which,  through  mistake,  they 
had  done  Harbaugh,  should  have  induced  a  feeling  of  tender- 
ness toward  him.  But  in  them,  alas !  there  was  no  such  feeling. 
On  the  next  morning,  after  roll-call  and  prayer,  Professor  Car- 
roll, President  pro  tern.,  in  open  college,  pronounced  the  awful 
words,  "Washington  A.  Harbaugh,  having  got  one  hundred  de- 
merit marks,  is,  by  sentence  of  the  faculty,  sent  home."  Poor 
boy !  His  lips  quivered,  his  face  flushed,  the  tears  started  in  his 
eyes;  he  took  his  hat  and  left  the  college  hall,  and  did  not  leave 
a  heart  behind  him  more  noble  than  his  own.  The  men  he  had 
to  deal  with  never  understood  his  character.  In  consequence 
of  feeble  health,  hard  study  was  often  irksome  to  him ;  but  kind 
treatment,  as  health  improved,  would  have  brought  him  along 
and  made  a  first-rate  man  of  him.  About  my  house  he  was  a 
favorite.  He  was  orderly,  quiet,  and  respectful,  but  would  resist 
oppression  at  all  hazards.  His  word  could  always  be  relied  on. 
I  advised  hira  not  to  go  out  through  town,  nor  to  write 
home,  until  President  Cox  returned ;  but  to  wait  until  they  re- 
ported to  his  father  what  had  taken  place.  He  remained  in  the 
house  as  requested,  and  cried  much  of  the  time;  said  he  was 
ruined,  and  could  not  go  home  nor  see  his  father.  He  admitted 
his  errors  to  me  very  frankly,  and  said,  now  that  the  ten  de- 
merit marks,  unjustly  given,  were  removed,  he  deserved  all  the 
rest.  Finding  his  spirit  very  much  humbled,  I  persuaded  him 
to  write  a  penitent  letter  to  the  faculty.  He  said  he  would  do 
it  if  I  would  assist  him;  so  the  following  was  written  by  me,  as 
he  requested. 

"To  THE  Faculty  of  Madison  College: 

"  Gentlemen — Having  taken  time  for  reflection  on  my  present 
painful  situation,  and  having  advised  with  confidential  friends, 
who  are  likewise  your  friends  and  the  friends  of  the  college,  I 
deem  it  proper,  if  possible,  to  undo  all  that  I  have  done  amiss. 
A  false  charge  and  abusive  language  provoked  me  into  a  fight 
with  AVilliam  Bailey.  We  were  both  brought  to  trial  before 
the  faculty,  where,  through  misapprehension  of  Mr.  Brown's 
testimony,  ten  demerit  marks  were  inflicted  on  me  more  than  I 


A    PENITENT    LETTER.  373 

deserved.  Being  greatly  Irritated  at  this  grievous  wrong,  I  did 
not  remain  at  college  that  afternoou.  Next  morning,  being  still 
in  an  irritated  state  of  mind  when  called  on  for  my  excuse,  my 
replies  were  exceedingly  improper.  Nor  can  I  justify  my  lan- 
guage to  the  faculty  at  the  second  meeting,  where  I  was  again 
tried.  Now,  as  the  faculty,  on  being  convinced  of  error,  did, 
in  an  honorable  way,  correct  what  they  had  done  amiss  in  my 
case,  by  striking  out  the  ten  demerit  marks  wrongfully  given, 
I  hope  they  will  allow  me  the  privilege  of  rectifying  my  errors 
too. 

"  I  therefore  acknowledge  I  did  wrong  in  fighting,  and  that 
my  language  to  the  officers  of  the  college  was  entirely  im- 
proper. I  am  truly  sorry  for  all  that  has  occurred  in  this  most 
unpleasant  and  painful  case,  and  ask  the  faculty  to  accept  my 
acknowledgment,  to  remove  the  demerit  marks  given  me  in  this 
case,  place  me  where  I  was  before,  and  let  me  remain  at  college. 
If  they  will  do  this,  I  will  try  to  do  my  duty  in  time  to  come. 
The  interests  of  the  college  will  probably  admit  of  this  favor 
being  shown  me.  The  feelings  of  my  parents  and  my  own  wel- 
fare appear  to  require  that  I  should  ask  it  at  your  hands.  If 
this  request  is  granted,  I  shall  be  under  great  and  lasting  obli- 
gations.    Most  respectfully,  I  am,  etc. 

"  W.  A.  Harbaugh. 

"  Uniontown,  3Iarch  23,  1855." 

This  penitent  letter  met  with  no  favor  from  the  faculty.  They 
scorned  it,  and  alleged  that  it  made  the  matter  worse,  as  it  re- 
ferred to  the  error  they  had  fallen  into  and  its  correction,  and 
hoped  that  the  writer  would  be  allowed  a  like  privilege  to  cor- 
rect his  errors.  This  reference  to  their  error  and  its  correction 
was,  in  their  opinion,  the  very  height  of  insolence  on  the  part 
of  Harbaugh,  and  they  spurned  him  and  his  letter  too.  Find- 
ing how  his  letter  was  treated,  he  sent  a  copy  of  it,  by  my  ad- 
vice, to  President  Cox,  when  he  came  home;  and,  from  a  con- 
versation which  I  had  with  him,  I  had  full  confidence  that  our 
troubles  would  soon  be  ended  by  Harbaugh's  restoration.  But, 
on   Saturday  evening,   March  28,   the  faculty  met.     Cox   was 


374  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERAXT    LIFE. 

present,  and,  contrary  to  my  expectation,  gave  liis  official  sanc- 
tion to  the  decree  of  banishment  pronounced  against  poor  Har- 
baugh.  So  his  penitent  letter  availed  no  more  with  Cox  than 
with  his  colleagses.  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Cox  of  his  con- 
firming their  decision,  on  Sunday  evening,  as  we  returned  from 
church.  I  only  remarked  at  the  time,  that  "I  hoped  no  injury 
would  happen  to  the  college  from  what  they  had  done."  He 
replied,  that  they  "would  have  restored  him,  but  he  was  a  hypo- 
crite." Hypocrite!  said  I  to  myself,  as  we  parted;  how  can  the 
faculty  know  that?  Who  but  the  living  God  can  search  the 
heart  of  that  boy?  Have  these  young  Southerners  attained  to 
infallibility  ? 

That  night  I  slept  but  little.  My  heart  was  sorely  troubled. 
A  college  without  mercy  to  the  penitent !  A  faculty  claiming 
infallibility,  to  sustain  themselves  in  acts  of  cruelty !  Such 
thoughts  came  and  went  at  pleasure  through  my  mind.  Oa 
Monday  I  took  the  charter  of  the  college,  and  went  to  Cox,  to 
show  him,  from  that  document,  that  things  in  our  college  were 
not  right;  that  the  faculty  were  bound  to  govern  the  college 
according  to  the  laws  sanctioned  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and 
that  neither  the  charter  nor  the  by-laws  made  by  the  trustees 
gave  any  sanction  to  the  military  system  introduced  by  the  fac- 
ulty. "Our  college  building,"  said  I,  "is  at  this  time  a  place 
of  deposit  for  muskets.  Our  students  are  in  military  garb ;  are 
mustered  on  the  commons  and  in  out  streets  several  times  a 
week.  They  attend  church  on  the  Sabbath-day  in  their  military 
uniforms.  The  demerit-mark  system  is  a  military  affair.  What 
is  to  be  done?"  Cox  said  he  "  regarded  all  this  as  being  in  agree- 
ment with  the  charter,  as  no  infringement  of  the  by-laws,  and 
as  essential  to  the  final  success  of  our  literary  institution."  So 
lie  and  I  difi"ered  very  widely  in  our  opinion  about  what  was 
necessary  to  the  success  of  a  Christian  college.  At  that  time 
he  informed  me  he  had  communicated  to  Harbaugh's  father  that 
he  was  to  be  sent  home.  "What,"  said  I,  "and  no  final  action 
of  the  board  in  his  case!"  After  a  little  reflection,  I  said: 
"Perhaps 'it  is  as  well  so;  you  have  done  it  all  yourselves.  He 
is  now   sent  home  by  decision   of  the  faculty  alone.     Don't 


FACULTY  THREATEN   TO  RESIGN.  875 

trouble  the  board  with  it."  I  felt  afraid  of  the  consequences 
to  the  college.  Cox  said  he  "  had  only  reported  the  case  to  Har- 
baugh's  father  as  far  as  it  had  gone;  he  knew  it  must  come  be- 
fore the  board." 

On  the  following  Saturday  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  trust- 
ees. After  transacting  all  the  business  in  a  very  harmonious 
manner,  Cox  brought  up  the  Harbaugh  case,  the  other  gentle- 
men of  the  faculty  being  present.  The  entire  fiiculty  objected 
to  Harbaugh's  being  present  and  to  his  penitent  letter  being 
read,  for  he  had  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  the  board.  It  took  con- 
siderable time  to  hear  the  jiros  and  cons,  and  finally  settle  this 
little  matter.  The  faculty  had  speech  about  with  the  board. 
Mr.  Cox  gave  distinct  intimations  that  resignations  might  be 
expected  if  the  board  admitted  Harbaugh,  or  allowed  his  letter 
to  be  read ;  as  if  the  only  office  of  the  board,  in  such  a  case, 
was  blindly  to  approve  of  what  the  faculty  had  done,  without 
hearing  the  other  side  at  all.  If  this  were  not  done,  resigna- 
tions might  follow.  On  an  appeal  to  me,  in  the  chair,  I  de- 
cided that,  "  in  a  Methodist  Protestant  college,  in  an  appealed 
case,  as  I  considered  this  to  be,  Methodist  Protestant  usages 
should  be  maintained,  as  far  as  the  charter  and  by-laws  will 
allow.  In  this  case  there  is  no  obstruction  from  these  docu- 
ments; so  Harbaugh  may  come  in,  and  his  letter  may  be  read." 
After  this  decision,  the  threatened  resignations  did  not  follow, 
and  we  adjourned  for  dinner,  all  in  a  pleasant  mood. 

At  two  o'clock  the  board  reassembled.  All  the  members  of 
the  faculty  were  there.  Harbaugh  was  admitted,  and  his  peni- 
tent letter  read.  He  had  no  defense  to  make ;  that  letter,  he 
said,  stated  his  desires  fully.  All  he  wanted  was  mercy ;  so  he 
was  directed  to  retire.  Not  wishing  to  call  in  question  the 
military  system — under  which  the  college  had  been  placed  by 
the  faculty — until  the  end  of  the  year,  a  motion  was  made  by 
J.  L.  Phillips,  seconded  by  Hon.  A.  Stewart,  to  sustain  the 
action  of  the  faculty,  and  recommend  that  body  to  restore  Har- 
baugh. After  a  good  deal  of  discussion,  Carroll  and  Cox  evi- 
dently aiming  to  overawe  the  board  with  their  threats  of  resig- 
nation, if  a  motion  were  adopted  recommending  the  boy  to  their 


376  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

mercy,  tliat  motion  was  withdrawn  to  make  way  for  anotlier. 
Then  Hon.  R.  P.  Flenniken,  with  Dr.  D.  Gibbon  for*  a  second, 
oflFered  another  motion  to  the  same  effect,  only  a  little  more  full, 
for  it  assigned  reasons  for  Harbaugh's  restoration;  namely,  "his 
penitent  letter  and  his  tender  age."  The  first  part  of  this  mo- 
tion was  adopted,  as  it  sustained  the  faculty;  but  on  the  second 
part  the  tug  of  war  came  on.  All  the  members  of  the  faculty 
opposed  it  in  rather  a  fierce  and  fiery  manner.  They  indicated 
a  determination  to  resign  if  the  motion  were  carried  requesting 
them  to  restore  Harbaugh. 

In  their  opposition  they  were  assisted  by  Hon.  A.  Stewart. 
He  admitted  that  Harbaugh  ought  to  be  restored ;  but  said, 
"My  doctrine  is  this:  if  we  carry  on  the  college,  the  faculty, 
right  or  wrong,  must  be  sustained."  This  gentleman  would 
have  voted  for  the  motion  as  a  matter  of  right ;  but,  as  a  matter 
of  expediency,  to  retain  the  faculty  and  carry  on  the  college,  he 
voted  against  it.  He  was  not  by  any  means  the  first  man  in  the 
world  who  "did  evil  that  good  might  come."  Cox  then  labored 
hard,  first,  to  sustain  the  action  of  the  faculty  in  banishing 
Harbaugh  for  his  impertiueucej  and,  secondly,  to  show  the  great 
mischief  to  the  college  which  must  inevitably  result  from  adopt- 
ing the  motion  then  under  consideration.  Among  the  evils  which 
would  immediately  follow  its  adoption  would  be  his  resignation 
and  that  of  his  associates.  So,  then,  these  gentlemen  would 
not  even  allow  the  board  to  ask  them,  respectfully,  to  show 
mercy  to  a  penitent  student.  If  it  was  done,  they  would  resign. 
The  very  thought  of  such  a  spirit  as  was  here  evinced  was 
terrible  to  me.  But  Cox  went  on.  "  Hai'baugh,"  he  said, 
"  never  wrote  that  penitent  letter.  Besides,  if  he  did,  he  was  a 
vile  hypocrite;  for,  the  very  next  day  after  it  was  written,  he 
was  heard  down  street,  by  a  respectable  student,  boasting  how 
he  had,  in  that  letter,  given  it  to  the  faculty."  I  noted  this 
statement  particularly,  and  knew  it  to  be  untrue  and  injurious 
to  Harbaugh's  reputation.  My  whole  fimily  could  testify  that 
he  had  not  left  my  house  to  go  anywhere  for  three  days  after 
that  letter  was  written ;  and  they,  with  the  boarders  at  my  house, 
knew  him  to  be  an  open-hearted,  honest-minded  youth — one  who 


HELPING    THE    PENITENT.  377 

had  been  trained  by  reputable  Christian  parents  to  detest  hy- 
pocrisy. 

Hon.  R.  P.  Flenniken  then  said  he  wished  to  hear  from  me. 
So  Dr.  Gibbon  was  called  to  the  chair,  and,  in  the  kindest  man- 
ner I  could,  I  spoke  of  the  faculty  as  gentlemen,  as  being  well- 
qualified  instructors,  etc.,  and  that  all  who  knew  me  would  give 
me  credit  for  the  sincerity  of  my  efforts  to  promote  the  interests 
of  the  college;  and,  in  my  judgment,  to  pass  the  motion  then 
before  the  board  would  accomplish  that  object.  I  then  ex- 
pressed my  hope  that  no  such  evils  as  brother  Cox  had  inti- 
mated would  follow  its  adoption,  and  went  on  to  say:  "He  has 
asked,  with  an  emphasis.  What  good  can  it  do  ?  It  will  do  this : 
it  will  let  every  body  know  that  there  is  mercy  in  Madison 
College  for  an  erring  student  who  repents  and  promises  amend- 
ment. At  least  it  will  show  that  there  is  mercy  in  this  board. 
It  will  ruin  the  interests  of  this  institution,  throughout  the 
Church  and  in  all  the  country,  if  no  forgiveness  is  extended  to 
erring  students  when  they  repent  and  promise  amendment. 
Brother  Cox  says  Harbaugh  is  a  hypocrite,  and,  to  prove  it, 
tells  us  of  a  respectable  student  who  heard  him  down  street,  next 
day  after  his  letter  was  written,  boasting  how  he  had  given  it 
to  the  faculty.  Now,  at  our  house,  we  all  know  this  statement 
to  be  a  mistake.  Harbaugh  did  not  leave  our  house  to  go  any- 
where for  three  days  after.  On  the  third  day,  he  went  out  into 
the  town  for  the  first  time,  and  when  he  heard  how  his  letter 
had  been  treated — bitterly  criticised,  and  regarded  as  making 
the  matter  worse — he  then  complained  of  the  faculty,  and  for 
a  time  regretted  having  written  it  at  all. 

"  It  is  said  by  brother  Cox  that  Harbaugh  never  wrote  that 
penitent  letter.  What  then?  It  will  not  follow  that  it  was 
wrong  for  him  to  obtain  assistance  in  writing  it.  I  wrote  it 
for  him.  It  is  my  duty  to  help  the  penitent.  I  found  him 
weeping,  and  believed  him  to  be  sincere.  After  three  days'  sore 
distress  on  account  of  his  situation,  I  advised  him  to  write  that 
letter,  and,  at  his  request,  I  wrote  it  for  him,  and  think  I  did 
right  in  so  doing.  It  can  not  be  wrong  to  help  the  erring  to  re- 
turn to  duty.  His  conduct  was  impertinent.  Justice  can  do 
24 


378  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

nothing  for  him.  His  only  plea  is  mercy,  and  I  hope  he  will 
find  mercy  at  the  hands  of  this  board." 

The  hard-hearted  treatment  received  at  the  hands  of  the 
faculty  by  Harbaugh  roused  the  impetuous  temper  of  J.  H. 
Deford,  Esq.,  who  gave  us  the  next  speech.  I  do  not  recollect 
his  points.  His  severity  on  the  ficulty  made  me  forget  the 
chain  of  his  argument.  He  was  several  times  called  to  order, 
but  refused  to  obey.  Three  members  of  the  faculty  left  the 
house  while  he  spoke;  so  did  several  members  of  the  board.  In- 
deed it  was  a  moving  time.  By  the  threats  of  resignation  pre- 
viously made  and  repeated  that  day,  and  from  their  leaving  the 
house  in  an  angry  manner  while  Deford  was  speaking,  I  was  led 
to  expect  every  one  of  them  to  resign  if  the  action  of  the  board 
in  the  slightest  degree  disturbed  their  decision  in  the  Harbaugh 
case ;  and  I  was  prepared  to  let  them  go,  for  I  wanted  God's 
mercy  to  the  penitent  fully  established  in  the  government  of 
Madison  College.  When  Deford's  speech,  so  offensive  to  the 
faculty  in  its  character,  was  over,  the  members  of  the  board  re- 
turned, and  about  nine  o  clock  at  night  the  vote  was  taken,  and 
the  question  lost.  So  the  f\iculty  triumphed  over  the  board 
and  over  God's  mercy.  A  Christian  college,  and  no  mercy  in 
it  for  an  erring  student  who  repents,  implores  forgiveness,  and 
wishes  to  return  to  his  duty  again !  What  a  burning  shame  I 
The  very  men — excepting  Flenniken  and  Deford — who  brought 
forward  the  motion  requesting  the  faculty  to  restore  Harbaugh, 
in  consequence  of  his  penitent  letter  and  tender  age,  abandoned 
their  own  measure  when  it  came  to  the  vote,  for  fear  the  faculty 
would  resign.  I  knew  full  well  that,  unless  a  change  could  be 
effected,  this  would  be  the  death  of  Madison  College ;  and  felt 
in  my  heart  that  my  days  in  connection  with  that  institution 
were,  if  things  remained  in  their  present  position,  about  draw- 
ing to  a  close.  To  trample  on  God's  mercy  for  the  purpose 
of  sustaining  faculty  authority  was  revolting  to  my  judgment 
and  conscience,  and  I  resolved  not  to  do  it. 

On  the  following  Monday  morning  the  college  was  opened 
as  usual,  and  that  day  Mr.  Cox  told  me  all  was  quiet,  and  that 
he  thought  there  would  be  no  resignations.     But,  in  order  that 


NO   MERCY   FOR   AN   ERRING   STUDENT.  379 

I  might  remain  myself  at  Madison  College,  I  felt  it  necessary 
to  make  another  effort  to  enthrone  mercy  over  that  institution. 
To  accomplish  this,  I  got  Mr.  Flenniken  to  go  to  President 
Cox  and  ask  him,  as  the  matter  was  now  wholly  with  the  fac- 
ulty, and  the  board  was  done  with  it,  to  take  early  measures  to 
restore  Harbaugh,  and  that  the  peace  of  the  college  would  then 
be  reestablished.  Mr.  Flenniken  soon  returned,  and  informed 
me  that  Cox  said  "  nothing  could  be  done  then;  they  might  do 
it  after  awhile."  Mr.  Flenniken  said,  "  If  you  can  restore  him 
now,  he  can  remain  at  college ;  if  not,  Mr.  Brown  goes  to 
Cincinnati  on  Wednesday,  and  will  take  him  to  his  parents." 
"Well,"  replied  Mr.  Cox,  "nothing  can  be  done  noio."  So  I 
gave  the  matter  up.  Soon  after,  I  met  Cox  on  the  street,  and 
said,  "You  saw  Mr.  Flenniken?"  He  answered,  "Yes;"  and  I 
then  asked,  "Can  you  do  any  thing  to  relieve  Harbaugh?" 
"May  be  we  can  on  Saturday,"  he  replied,  "if  you  leave  him." 
"  Do,  brother  Cox,"  said  I,  "  restore  him,  and  let  me  take  him 
home  on  Wednesday.  His  father  has  written  me  to  bring  him." 
"But,"  said  he,  "if  we  restore  him,  why  not  leave  him?"  To 
this  I  replied,  "I  can  not  leave  him  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies; 
he  has  not  a  friend  in  the  faculty."  I  own  that  this  was  severe. 
It  was  the  first  and  only  severe  thing  I  said  in  all  this  most 
painful  struggle.  He  looked  thoughtful  for  a  moment,  and  then 
walked  away,  making  no  reply. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  he  came  to  my  house  and  asked, 
"Are  you  going  to  Cincinnati  to-day?"  I  told  him  I  was. 
He  remained  some  time  in  conversation,  partly  with  me  and 
partly  with  the  family.  When  he  left,  I  went  with  him  to  the 
door,  not  intending  to  say  one  word  about  the  Harbaugh  case. 
But  he  said,  "  Will  you  indeed  take  Harbaugh  with  you?"  I 
told  him  I  would.  My  heart  being  very  full,  I  went  on  to  say: 
"  Brother  Cox,  Madison  College  is  ruined !  Your  military  ap- 
pendage and  demerit-mark  system  have  taken  it  from  under 
the  charter  and  by-laws.  And,  by  faculty  influence  over  the 
board,  there  is  no  mercy  in  that  body  now  for  an  erring  stu- 
dent when  he  repents.  You  have,  likewise,  taken  the  college 
from  under  the  control  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 


380  RECOLLECTIONS    OP   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

where  penitents  do  find  mercy.  And,  more  yet,  you  liave  taken 
it  from  under  the  control  of  the  Christian  religion.  In  that 
religion  there  is  mercy  for  penitents,  but  with  you  and  your 
faculty  there  is  none.  Now,  since  the  board,  overawed  by 
your  threats  of  resignation,  has  sustained  you  in  these  things, 
I  see  no  way  left  for  me  but  to  abandon  my  present  position  in 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  attack  your  military  administration 
in  both  of  our  Church  papers."  "But  you  will  not  do  that," 
said  he,  "if  Harbaugh  is  proven  to  be  a  hypocrite?"  "No," 
I  answered;  "if  he  is  proven  to  be  a  hypocrite  by  that  'respect- 
able student'  you  spoke  of — and  there  are  many  such,  and  some 
I  hold  to  be  doubtful — I  will  give  the  matter  up.  I  never  will 
sustain  a  hypocrite.  But  who  is  that  'respectable  student,' 
who  heard  Harbaugh,  down  street,  the  next  day  after  his  peni- 
tent letter  was  written,  boasting  how  he  had  given  it  to  the 
faculty?"  "That  student  was  not  before  the  faculty,"  answered 
Mr.  Cox.  "I  do  not  even  know  his  name;  but  Professor  Car- 
roll said  in  the  faculty  meeting  that  there  was  such  a  witness." 
"My  family,"  said  I,  "know  well,  and  so  do  I,  that  Harbaugh 
remained  in  my  house  for  three  days  after  that  letter  was  writ- 
ten, and  did  not  go  down  town  at  all;  so  I  know  that  thing  is 
not  true.  Can  it  be  possible,  brother  Cox,  that  you  have  joined 
with  the  faculty  in  pronouncing  a  sentence  of  condemnation 
and  banishment  against  a  student  of  Madison  College  without 
hearing  the  witness  yourself,  or  even  knowing  his  name?  This 
thing  fills  me  with  profound  amazement!  Bring  me  that  stu- 
dent if  you  can,  and  if  you  can  not,  then  restore  Harbaugh,  or 
I  will,  as  I  have  already  said,  attack  your  administration  in 
both  of  our  Church  papers,  and  let  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  know  what  you  are  doing  at  Madison  College." 

On  hearing  my  earnest  speech,  all  warm  from  my  troubled 
heart,  away  went  Cox  and  assembled  his  faculty;  but  no  witness 
was  brought  to  me.  I  suppose  there  was  none  to  bring.  In 
about  one  hour  he  returned,  and  in  a  very  pleasant  manner 
acknowledged  a  mistake  in  this  whole  matter ;  said  that  Har- 
baugh was  restored,  and  that  the  faculty  had  agreed  to  show 
mercy  to  penitent  students  in  all  time  to  come.     This  was  all 


STATEMENT    OF    A    FALSE    CAUSE.  381 

I  wanted.  We  parted  in  Christian  friendship,  and  that  day,  at 
one  o'clock,  I  was  off  for  Cincinnati,  taking  Harbaugh  with  me 
to  his  parents.  There  was  a  great  change  for  the  better  in  my 
feelings.  I  supposed  that  peace  was  now  permanently  restored; 
that  at  the  end  of  the  collegiate  year  we  could  easily  put  aside 
the  military  system  introduced  by  the  faculty,  and  return  to  our 
former  plan  of  government.  My  hopes  were  high,  and  I  felt 
now  like  renewing  my  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  college.  At  that 
time  our  prospects  of  final  success  were  very  fair;  so  Cox  had 
reported  them  at  the  Maryland  Conference,  as  may  be  seen  by 
our  Church  paper.  His  speech  before  that  body  was  encour- 
aging. He  returned  home  with  several  new  students,  and  had 
been  successful  in  making  collections.  Now  that  the  vexed 
question  about  young  Harbaugh  was  disposed  of,  and  God's 
mercy  had  returned  to  the  college,  and  we  had  increasing  public 
favor,  why  should  we  not  get  along  well?  Even  the  overruled 
trustees,  as  well  as  myself,  were  hopeful. 

But  in  those  days  there  were  thorns  and  briers  in  every  path 
for  me.  While  in  Cincinnati,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Harbaugh — ■ 
father  of  the  young  man  who  has  figured  in  this  narrative — I 
read  Cox's  letter,  informing  him  of  the  sentence  by  which  his 
son  was  sent  home.  In  that  letter  no  allusion  was  made  to  the 
real  cause  of  his  banishment ;  namely,  a  contest  with  the  faculty. 
All  was  put  upon  his  inattention  to  study.  This  was  only  a  small 
part  of  the  cause,  and  would  not  have  led  to  his  banishment  at 
all  if  there  had  been  nothing  else,  for  he  was  a  youth  of  feeble 
health,  and  did  about  as  well  as  he  could  in  his  studies.  I 
myself  was  a  witness  to  the  fact  in  part,  and  had  the  balance 
from  the  professors  themselves,  that  young  Harbaugh  got  more 
than  one-half  of  the  demerit  marks  by  which  he  was  banished, 
for  his  impertinence  to  the  faculty  during  a  three-days'  contest 
with  them.  So,  here  was  a  fjilse  cause  stated  by  the  President 
of  our  college  to  a  father  for  the  banishment  of  his  son.  I 
could  not  have  believed  that  Cox  would  have  assigned  a  false 
cause  in  this  case,  instead  of  the  true  one,  if  I  had  not  seen  it 
with  my  own  eyes.  To  have  my  confidence  shaken  in  the 
veracity  of  the  President  of  our  literary  institution  afflicted  me 


382  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

very  mucli.  Wheu  trutli  fails  in  presidents,  colleges  fall  of 
course.  Yet,  again,  when  I  returned  to  Uuiontowu,  I  was 
amazed  and  confounded,  and  knew  not  which  way  to  look  for 
relief  to  my  heart,  when  I  was  informed,  by  a  number  of  re- 
spectable students,  that,  while  I  was  absent,  Cox  had  said,  in 
open  college,  after  morning  pi-ayer,  that  "it  was  not  true  that 
Harbaugh  had  been  restored,  and  that  he  had  never  said  he 
was,  to  any  person."  Now,  this  gentleman  had  informed  me  of 
Harbaugh's  restoration,  in  my  own  house,  in  the  presence  of 
my  family.  I  could  not,  therefore,  be  mistaken  in  the  matter, 
and  the  students  affirmed  that  they  were  not  mistaken  as  to  his 
denial  of  Harbaugh's  restoration,  or  that  he  ever  said  he  was 
restored  to  any  person.  I  took  time  for  reflection  as  to  what 
was  best  to  be  done  in  this  case,  which  gave  me  so  much  pain, 
and  finally  concluded  to  do  nothing,  for  the  following  reasons : 
1.  I  was  afraid  of  injury  to  the  college.  2.  I  had  already  been 
troubled  enough  in  these  struggles.  3.  I  had  some  reason  to 
believe  that  Cox  had  been  led  into  all  that  he  did,  in  intro- 
ducing the  military  system  into  the  college  and  in  the  Harbaugh 
case  throughout,  by  his  colleagues.  4.  At  that  time  he  was 
involved  in  a  good  deal  of  trouble  about  temporal  matters,  and 
I  did  not  wish  to  add  to  his  afflictions  by  an  investigation  of 
a  question  of  veracity.  5.  I  could  not  find  that  any  one  in  that 
community  doubted  his  having  told  me  that  the  faculty  had 
restored  Harbaugh.  In  this  view  of  the  case,  I  deemed  it  best 
to  let  the  matter  rest,  and  do  all  I  could  for  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  college.  Cox  was  certainly  a  man  of  hand- 
some talents,  but  impracticable  and  visionary  in  his  conceptions 
of  things;  easily  involved  in  trouble  in  almost  any  direction, 
and  therefore  more  to  be  pitied  than  censured  by  me. 

In  the  commencement  of  this  college  enterprise,  as  the  lo- 
cation of  the  institution  was  in  a  free  State,  the  trustees  deemed 
it  good  policy  to  take  the  President  and  professors  mainly  from 
the  slave  States.  The  only  Northern  man  in  the  college  was 
Rev.  G.  B.  McElroy,  who  had  been  Principal  of  the  preparatory 
department,  and  was,  finally,  made  Professor  of  Mathematics; 
but,  under  President  Cox's  administration,  he  was  compelled  to 


MILITARY    DrSCIPLDTE.  383 

resign  his  position  under  pressure  of  Southern  influence.  Mr. 
McElroy  was  a  fine  schohir  and  an  able  mathematician ;  but  at 
that  time  he  was  not  a  graduate  of  any  college,  and  for  this 
reason,  as  Cox  informed  me,  the  Southern  part  of  the  faculty 
did  not  favor  him,  nor  was  it  long  before  the  Southern  students 
asked  for  his  removal.  After  enduring  considerable  persecution, 
he  resigned,  and  Mr.  Murfee,  a  gentleman  from  the  South,  was 
chosen  to  fill  his  place.  So,  now  all  the  officers  of  the  college, 
from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  were  from  the  South;  and,  in  a 
short  time,  the  military  appendage  already  alluded  to  was  intro- 
duced, and  the  character  of  the  discipline  was  materially  changed 
by  the  faculty,  without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  trust- 
ees. This  was  a  daring  innovation  on  the  established  regula- 
tions of  the  college,  and  gave  us  much  trouble,  as  has  been 
already  seen.     It  took  Southerners  to  do  such  things. 

I  knew  nothing  of  the  theory  or  underlying  principles  of 
this  military  appendage.  I  never  saw  the  action  taken  by  the 
faculty  in  getting  it  up.  I  could,  therefore,  onlj-  judge  of  it 
by  its  practical  workings.  I  saw  that  a  great  number  of  our 
students  were  clothed  like  soldiers,  and  appeared  in  their  uni- 
forms in  college,  on  the  streets,  and  in  church  on  the  Sabbath- 
day.  I  saw  that  they  had  muskets  when  on  parade,  and  that 
our  college  building  was  the  depository  of  military  arms.  I 
was  informed  that  the  college  company  had  allied  itself  to  the 
regiment  of  the  county,  in  order  that  it  might  be  entitled  to 
draw  these  arms.  I  saw  the  constant  morning  drill  in  the  col- 
lege campus,  and  that  they  mustered  on  the  commons  and 
paraded  along  the  streets  several  times  a  week.  I  saw  that  the 
faculty  had  become  a  standing  court-martial,  and  that  nothing 
could  be  done,  even  in  Prep-dom,  with  an  offending  student, 
without  a  sentence  from  this  court-martial.  This  left  the  Prin- 
cipal of  the  preparatory  department  without  authority  and 
without  respect.  One  hundred  demerit  marks,  given  by  these 
assessors  of  damage  for  this,  that,  and  the  other,  entitled  a 
Student  to  expulsion,  and  to  have  his  name  so  reported  in  the 
forthcoming  catalogue. 

This  whole  military  system  was  a  violation   of  the  charter 


384  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

and  by-laws.  It  was  supremely  ridiculous  in  a  Methodist  Prot- 
estant college.  Many  have  been  the  conjectures  as  to  the  de- 
sign of  the  faculty  in  adopting  that  appendage.  To  me  it  is 
now  highly  probable  that  the  present  rebellion,  long  prede- 
termined by  Southern  statesmen  of  the  Calhoun  school,  will 
afford  a  clue  to  their  design.  West  Point  could  not  turn  out 
military  men  fast  enough  to  satisfy  the  South.  All  the  Southern 
colleges,  and  others  under  Southern  influence,  must,  if  possible, 
be  induced  to  give  young  gentlemen  a  military  training  against 
the  approaching  struggle,  for  the  present  rebellion  had  been  in 
contemplation,  among  the  leading  politicians  of  the  South,  for 
the  last  thirty  years.  I  am  confirmed  in  my  opinion  on  this 
subject  by  the  following  fact:  In  1854,  Eev.  John  Scott,  D.  D., 
the  present  editor  of  the  Western  Methodist  Protestant,  and 
myself  attended  the  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  Conferences 
of  our  Church.  While  at  the  latter  Conference,  ex-Governor 
Branch,  who  resided  near  at  hand,  sent  his  carriage,  and  took 
brother  Scott  and  myself  to  his  house  to  spend  the  night.  We 
found  him  to  be  very  intelligent,  courteous,  and  communicative. 
After  supper,  taking  a  box  of  Havana  cigars  in  his  hand,  he 
invited  us  into  the  smoking-room.  So,  away  we  went,  took 
each  a  cigar,  and,  as  the  smoke  went  on,  we  talked  over  the 
politics  of  the  day.  The  Kansas  trouble  was  theji  beginning 
to  be  felt,  and  in  our  conversation  the  slave  question  came  up. 
The  Governor  spoke  without  reserve.  "Gentlemen,"  said  he, 
"I  am  greatly  concerned  for  my  country.  The  slave-power 
has  always  controlled  this  Government,  and  if  the  day  shall  ever 
come  when  the  South  shall  lose  that  control,  she  will  break 
down  this  Government  and  set  up  a  Southern  Confederacy."  I 
gave  it  as  my  opinion  that  he  was  mistaken.  "  Gentlemen,  1 
am  not,"  said  he;  "I  am  well  acquainted  with  all  the  leading 
statesmen  of  the  South,  and  I  know  it  to  be  a  foregone  deter- 
mination among  them  to  rebel  and  break  down  our  National 
Government,  so  soon  as  they  lose  the  control  of  it,  and  set  up 
a  government  for  themselves."*     So,  here  we  have  one  of  the  . 

*  Dr.  Scott  has  reminded  me,  since  the  above  was  written,  that  Governor  Branch  thought 
the  next  Congress  would  be  the  last. 


PROPOSED    ENDOWMENT    OF    MADISON    COLLEGE.  385 

great  men  of  the  South  bearing  witness  to  the  determination 
of  Southern  states^men  either  to  rule  or  ruin  this  nation — to  con- 
trol or  destroy  our  Government.  Will  not  this  justify  the  in- 
ference that  thee-e  crafty  men  had  enlisted  all  the  colleges  then 
under  Southern  influence  to  drill  the  students  in  military  tactics 
against  the  time  when  the  Southern  control  of  the  Government 
should  cease  and  the  contemplated  rebellion  come  on?  Presi- 
dent Cox  and  his  colleagues  often  spoke,  in  my  hearing,  of  the 
military  drill  of  students  in  Southern  colleges,  and,  by  the 
example  of  those  institutions,  aimed  to  justify  the  drill  at  Madi- 
eon  College.  My  opinion  then  was,  that  the  thing  was  foolish; 
now,  I  think,  in  view  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  that  it  was  in- 
cipient treason,  since  fully  developed  in  a  terrible  war. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  faculty,  in  consequence  of  the  military 
character  given  our  college  without  the  sanction  or  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  board,  and  in  consequence  of  their  cruel  treatment 
of  young  Harbaugh,  and  of  their  overruling  the  board  with 
threats  of  resignation,  if  that  body  should  ask  them,  by  an 
official  act,  to  restore  that  penitent  student,  had  brought  on 
themselves  and  their  course  of  action  pretty  general  condemna- 
tion. The  public  mouth  was  opened  wide.  They  and  their 
doings  were  much  talked  of  in  that  community,  which  thing 
made  them  all  feel  very  sore,  for  they  all  loved  popular  favor. 
In  a  short  time  it  began  to  be  alleged  by  these  gentlemen  that 
the  North  had  not  done  as  much  as  the  South  for  college  in- 
terests. Then  again  it  came,  in  letters  from  the  South,  that 
Eev.  C.  Avery,  a  great  Abolitionist,  had  agreed  to  endow  the 
college,  and  that  the  Board  of  Trustees,  in  consideration  of  this 
great  favor,  had  determined  to  admit  colored  students  along 
with  the  whites  into  the  institution.  Letters  written  by  at 
least  one  member  of  the  faculty  were  given  as  authority  for 
these  reports.  The  first  of  the  above  complaints  was  partly 
true:  our  agents  had  canvassed  the  South,  and  were  only  then 
beginning  in  the  North.  The  second  was  wholly  false :  neither 
Mr.  Avery  nor  the  board  had  ever  thought  of  an  endowment  on 
that  principle.  But  the  idea  of  taking  colored  students  into  the 
college,  once  thrown  abroad  on  the  Southern  mind,  had  the  in- 


386  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

tended  effect:  it  prepared  the  Southerners  to  call  home  their 
sons  at  the  end  of  the  term.  To  educate  their  sons  along  with 
negroes  was,  to  them,  horrible. 

As  the  collegiate  year  was  drawing  to  a  close,  I  was  informed, 
by  a  letter  from  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  that  our  faculty  had,  in 
the  early  part  of  April,  made  arrangements  to  open  a  college 
in  that  place.  Yet,  they  gave  us  no  information  to  that  effect 
themselves,  until  near  the  time  of  the  annual  commencement, 
late  in  June.  They  were  employed  by  our  board,  and  under 
our  pay,  and  were,  therefore,  bound,  in  honor  and  justice,  to 
build  up  our  institution;  but,  instead  of  doing  this,  they  worked 
against  our  college,  from  the  time  of  their  contest  with  the  board 
in  the  Harbaugh  case  to  the  end  of  the  year,  and  finally  drew 
off  nearly  all  of  our  Southern  students  to  their  Lynchburg  in- 
stitution. At  that  time  the  South  went  for  a  Southern  col- 
lege ;  at  a  later  date,  for  a  Southern  Confederacy. 

At  the  close  of  the  annual  commencement  exercises,  the  fac- 
ulty all  resigned;  and  President  Cox  stated,  to  a  large  assembly, 
that  they  had  made  arrangements  to  open  a  Methodist  Prot- 
estant College  at  Lynchburg,  the  following  September.  Rev. 
William  Collier,  J).  D.,  then  read  a  paper  containing  sundry 
resolutions  of  the  board,  indicating  a  determination  on  the  part 
of  that  body  to  elect  another  faculty,  and  open  the  college  at 
the  usual  time  in  the  fjill.  Very  much  against  my  wishes,  I  was 
chosen  by  the  board  as  President,  and  instructed  to  use  all  pos- 
sible diligence  to  secure  a  competent  corps  of  firofessors  during 
the  vacation.  I  felt  great  reluctance  in  accepting  the  ofiice  as- 
signed me  by  the  board,  because  of  a  consciousness  of  a  want 
of  literary  competency  for  the  work;  and  because  of  a  con- 
viction  in  my  mind  that,  since  the  South  had  gone  from  us, 
there  would  be  an  inability  felt  to  sustain  a  competent  faculty. 
However,  being  urged,  and  assurances  being  given  me  that  the 
Church  would  lend  a  helping  hand,  I  agreed  to  take  the  ofSce, 
and  do  the  best  I  could.  The  following  gentlemen,  all  from 
the  free  States,  composed  the  new  faculty:  Rev.  G.  B.  McElroy, 
M.  B.  Goff,  P.  S.  Bancroft,  Professors;  and  A.  Hutton,  Princi- 
pal of  the  Preparatory  Department.      These  gentlemen   being 


CONDITION    OF    MADISON    COLLEGE.  387 

secured  as  my  fellow-laborers,  I  awaited  the  opening  of  the  col- 
lege, in  September,  with  a  great  deal  of  anxiety.  I  was  not 
afraid  of  the  integrity  or  ability  of  my  associates,  but  I  did  dis- 
trust my  own  qualifications.  The  character  of  the  college  had 
been  injured;  many  of  our  students,  on  false  representations,  had 
left  us,  and  our  financial  condition  was  not  satisfactory. 


388  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

A  New  FAfui-Ty— Pecuniary  Condition  of  thr  College— Travelinq  on  Colleqe  Busi- 
ness—Toub  Thuougu  Old  ViiiaiNiA— Visit  to  Lynohburo- A  Southerner's  View 
OF  Slave-trading- College  Commencement— Change  in  the  Faculty— Collegk 
Closes. 

On  the  first  Mouday  in  September,  1855,  Madison  College 
was  opened  under  a  new  corps  of  professors.  P.  S.  Bancroft 
was  elected  to  the  chair  of  Mathematics;  M.  B.  Goif,  who  was 
not  present  at  the  opening  of  college,  was  chosen  Professor  of 
Languages.  These  two  gentlemen,  in  a  short  time,  to  gratify 
preferences,  exchanged  chairs,  without  objection  from  the  trust- 
ees. Bev.  Gr.  B.  McElroy  took  charge  of  the  preparatory  de- 
partment. Bancroft  and  Goff,  both  excellent  young  men,  had 
recently  graduated  at  Alleghany  College.  McElroy  graduated 
at  the  succeeding  annual  commencement  at  Madison  College. 
With  these  gentlemen  for  colleagues,  I  commenced  the  term 
with  great  concern  of  mind.  Indeed,  I  would  not  have  taken 
the  presidency,  or  opened  college  at  all,  but  for  the  urgency  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  especially  the  Church  portion  of  it,  who 
assured  me  that  tlie  Church  icould  stand  at  my  hack  in  all  my 
efforts  to  build  up  tJiat  institution.  Three  Southern  presidents 
had  left  it.  Eighty-five  out  of  ninety  of  our  Southern  students 
had  been  wrongfully  carried  off  from  us,  by  President  Cox  and 
his  colleagues,  to  Lynchburg.  The  character  of  the  college,  at 
home  and  abroad,  had  been  greatly  depreciated.  Our  finances 
were  in  a  crippled  condition.  Now  that  the  South  was  gone, 
the  college  was  not  sufficiently  central  to  suit  the  free-State 
portion  of  the  Church.  Uniontown  was,  financially,  rather  on 
the  wane,  was  somewhat  sectarian,  and  would  not  give  much 
support  to  a  Methodist  Protestant  college.      All  these  things 


RETURN   TO    COLLEGE   DUTIES.  389 

were  rather  against  us;  yet,  it  was  deemed  best  to  make  a 
trial,  and  give  our  friends  in  the  North  an  opportunity  to  help 
in  this  matter,  as  the  college  was  very  much  needed  by  the 
Church. 

Shortly  after  the  commencement  of  the  term,  the  Pittsburgh 
Conference  held  its  annual  session  in  Brownsville,  Pennsylvania. 
That  body  took  spirited  action  in  behalf  of  the  college,  and  I 
was  encouraged  to  hope  for  an  increase  of  students,  and  that 
my  old  friend,  Rev.  C.  Avery,  now  that  the  institution  was  no 
longer  connected  with  slavery,  would  do  something  handsome 
toward  its  endowment.  In  a  short  time,  I  ventured  to  address 
to  him  a  most  earnest  appeal  on  that  subject.  To  me  he  made 
no  reply,  but  placed  in  the  hands  of  Revs.  W.  Collier  and  J, 
Robison,  as  trustees,  fifteen  hundred  dollars  for  the  benefit  of 
our  college.  This  was  help  in  the  right  direction,  and  I  was 
inclined  to  hope,  believe,  and  pray  that  he  would  do  still  more, 
as  he  was  abundantly  able,  and  most  munificently  liberal.  But 
Madison  College,  owing  to  its  location,  not  being  sufficiently 
central  for  the  Northern  portion  of  the  Church,  and  to  au 
opinion  entertained  by  him  that  enough  had  not  been  done  for 
the  institution  by  men  of  wealth  in  its  immediate  vicinity,  it 
received  nothing  further  from  Mr.  Avery.  Certainly,  men  of 
means  who  live  near  a  college  should  be  liberal  in  its  support, 
as  they  enjoy  advantages  not  possessed  by  others  who  reside  at 
a  distance. 

I  left  the  Conference  at  Brownsville,  and  returned  to  my 
duties  in  the  college  on  Monday  morning.  For  two  years  I  had 
sustained  a  superannuated  relation  to  the  Conference,  and  did 
not  ask  or  expect  that  relation  to  be  changed.  Yet  a  change 
was  made,  and  I  was  placed  back  on  the  list  of  effective  preach- 
ers, as  I  was  informed,  because  it  was  judged  improper  for  a 
superannuated  minister  to  be  President  of  the  college.  This 
act  cut  me  ofi"  from  a  superannuated  preacher's  claim  on  the 
funds  of  the  Aid  Society,  and  left  me  to  depend  exclusively 
upon  what  our  crippled  college  could  give  me.  This  was  not 
bringing  "the  Church  to  stand  at  my  back,"  and  I  felt  very 
sure  that  all  the  funds  that  could  be  made  by  the  college  would 


390  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITIIS^ERANT   LIFE. 

have  to  go  to  pay  my  colleagues,  or  I  would  lose  them  as  co- 
laborers,  and  the  institution  would  die  on  my  hands.  To  get 
along  at  all,  I  had  to  lean  on  my  own  limited  means  for  more 
than  half  the  support  of  my  family,  while  serving  the  Church 
as  President  of  the  college.  Would  it,  indeed,  have  been  an 
odium  on  the  college  for  a  superannuated  minister  to  have  been 
its  President?  Or  were  the  brethren  mistaken  in  this  matter? 
At  any  rate,  from  the  necessities  of  the  case,  I  was  compelled 
to  spend  my  own  funds,  to  the  injury  of  my  family,  and  I  did 
not  feel  very  comfortable  under  the  circumstances.  The  above 
is  stated  as  connected  with  my  personal  history,  and  I  take 
pleasure  in  adding  that  this  thing,  long  gone  by,  has  left  no 
sore  place  in  my  heart.  Grod  has  not  yet,  nor  will  he  ever, 
allow  me  and  mine  to  suffer.  Long  ago,  I  made  up  my  mind 
never  to  forsake  God,  and  I  do  most  conscientiously  believe  that 
he  never  will  forsake  me  or  mine. 

My  colleagues  in  college  labor  were  all  very  agreeable  and 
companionable  gentlemen.  Bancroft  and  Goff  were  not  profess- 
ors of  religion  at  that  time,  but  were  strictly  moral.  McElroy 
had  from  boyhood  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  and  for  several  years  an  itinerant  minister.  I  felt  it 
pleasant  to  work  with  these  men.  They  were  all  hard  students, 
and  very  attentive  and  persevering  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
assigned  them.  But,  unlike  the  Southern  professors  who  had 
preceded  them,  they  did  not  mix  much  with  society,  and  were, 
therefore,  supposed  by  some  to  lack  social  qualities.  Perhaps 
they  did,  and  for  this  reason  were  not  as  popular  as  men  of  in- 
ferior minds  and  attainments  often  are.  Leaving  the  young 
people  of  Uniontown  to  seek  pleasure  in  their  own  way,  they 
seemed  to  have  a  high  ambition  to  qualify  themselves  for  suc- 
cess as  educators.  In  order  to  accomplish  their  purpose,  they 
drew  me  into  an  arrangement  which,  for  a  time,  I  did  not  like. 
To  open  college  at  eight  o'clock,  instead  of  nine,  and  perform 
all  the  duties  of  the  day  against  the  dinner  hour,  so  as  to  have 
no  afternoon  session,  crowded  matters  on  me  a  little  too  much, 
the  whole  year  round.  Yet,  it  led  to  early  rising,  and  gave  the 
students  the  whole  afternoon  more  perfectly  to  prepare  for  reci- 


TRAVELING   ON  COLLEGE   BUSINESS.  391 

tatlon  the  next  morning.  So,  while  the  professors  gained  time 
for  literary  improvement,  the  students  had  an  advantage,  and  I, 
with  the  care  of  a  large  family  on  me,  had  pretty  hard  strug- 
gling to  be  ready  to  open  college  at  so  early  an  hour. 

Various  efforts  were  made,  during  this  collegiate  year,  to  in- 
crease the  funds  and  patronage  of  the  college.  Being  author- 
ized by  the  trustees,  I  secured  the  services  of  Rev.  W.  Collier 
to  attend  the  Ohio  and  Muskingum  Conferences,  and  the  serv- 
ices of  Rev.  J.  Robison  to  attend  the  Genesee  and  Michigan 
Conferences,  in  view  of  college  interests.  Three  of  these  Con- 
ferences secured  to  our  institution,  by  notes,  the  sum  of  fifteen 
hundred  dollars ;  but  the  fourth,  after  voting  us  five  hundred 
dollars,  gave  us  no  notes ;  so  we  actually  got  nothing  from  that 
Conference  but  a  vote  !  Was  this  the  fault  of  the  agent,  or 
the  fault  of  the  Conference?  Who  can  tell?  This  was  a  small 
addition  to  our  permanent  endowment  fund,  which  at  that  time 
was  not  over  eleven  thousand  dollars.  The  interest  of  this  small 
amount,  and  the  annual  income  from  limited  scholarships  and 
tuition  fees,  constituted  our  entire  pecuniary  support. 

To  meet  the  impoverished  condition  into  which  the  college 
was  thrown  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  South,  the  board  reduced 
the  salaries  of  the  professors  down  to  the  lowest  living  point. 
The  next  eiFort  was  to  secure  agents  to  sell  perpetual  and  lim- 
ited scholarships,  and  bring  us  in  students.  But  in  this  we 
failed.  All  seemed  to  wish  us  well,  and  pray  to  God  to  bless 
us,  but  we  could  get  no  permanent  agents.  So  we  labored  on 
in  a  lingering  condition,  with  about  sixty  students,  through- 
out the  first  year.  In  addition  to  my  giving  to  my  colleagues 
nearly  all  the  college  funds,  and  relying  mainly  on  my  own 
resources  for  the  support  of  my  family,  I  got  a  few  friends  to 
join  me  in  a  note,  and  we  borrowed  five  hundred  dollars,  to 
meet  the  claims  of  my  fellow-laborers  at  the  termination  of  the 
collegiate  year.  I  found  the  board  determined  to  carry  on  the 
college  under  my  administration,  especially  the  Church  portion 
of  it;  and  if  I  remained  as  President,  I  could  only  retain  my 
associates  by  seeing  them  paid,  I  supposed.  So  the  above  sum 
was  borrowed.     But  the  understanding  among   the  makers  of 


392  RECOLLECTIONS   OF  ITINERANT   LIFE. 

the  note  was,  that  I  was  to  make  payment  when  the  money  fell 
due. 

Our  annual  commencement  was  considered  by  educated  men 
to  be  very  creditable  to  the  instructors.  It  was  numerously 
attended.  The  students  acquitted  themselves  well.  Our  only 
graduate  was  Rev.  Gr.  B.  McElroy,  who  had  gone  through  the 
studies  of  the  senior  year  while  performing  the  duties  of  Prin- 
cipal of  the  preparatory  department.  There  would  have  been 
others  to  graduate  had  they  not  been  drawn  oif  to  Lynchburg. 
"In  hope,  believing  against  hope,"  we  had  struggled  through 
the  year  with  public  approbation,  and  felt  encouraged  to  labor 
on,  in  hope  of  final  success. 

During  the  vacation,  I  undertook  to  relieve  myself  from  the 
weighty  responsibilities  under  which  I  was  placed  by  borrow- 
ing money  for  college  purposes.  The  Board  of  Trustees  had 
offended  Mrs.  Skiles,  of  whom  I  had  borrowed  the  eight  hun- 
dred dollars  to  pay  the  Church's  part  for  the  addition  to  the 
college  building.  She  sent  for  me  and  demanded  payment. 
The  five  hundred  dollars  borrowed  to  pay  the  professors  would 
be  due  at  the  end  of  four  months.  So,  here  was  work  for  me. 
An  appeal  had  to  be  made  to  my  friends  for  assistance.  I  went 
to  Pittsburgh,  Steubenville,  Cincinnati;  to  the  Pittsburgh  Con- 
ference in  Indiana  County,  Pennsylvania ;  to  the  Ohio,  Mus- 
kingum, and  Michigan  Conferences;  to  Baltimore  and  Philadel- 
phia; then  returned  by  home,  and  went  on  to  Western  Virginia, 
making  collections  to  relieve  myself  of  these  debts.  I  had  just 
taken  time,  amid  these  toilsome  journeys,  to  open  college,  in 
September,  and  arrange  for  my  classes  to  be  attended  to,  and 
then  go  on  again.  Finally,  being  broken  down  in  health,  I  re- 
turned home,  and  paid  off  the  two  notes,  amounting  in  all,  prin- 
cipal and  interest,  to  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-six 
dollars  and  seventy-five  cents.  During  my  absence  from  col- 
lege, after  vacation,  I  gave  up  my  salary,  and  agreed  to  take  ten 
per  cent,  on  moneys  collected.  But  when  I  came  to  pay  the 
notes,  I  lacked  fifteen  dollars  of  the  necessary  amount,  without 
taking  the  ten  per  cent.  So  I  lost  my  salary  in  college,  the  ten 
per  cent.,  paid  the  fifteen  dollars  out  of  my  own  pocket,  and 


TOUR    THROUGH    OLD  VIRGESTIA.  393 

was  glad,  even  with  this  loss,  to  see  this  troublesome  matter 
ended.  To  this  I  will  now  add,  that  the  whole  truth  may  be 
known,  that  fifty  dollars,  sent  me  by  Mrs.  Reese,  of  Maryland, 
as  a  present,  and  twenty-five  dollars  as  a  present  from  John 
Clark,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore,  helped  to  make  up  the  amount  which 
I  had  to  pay  on  that  occasion.  Indeed,  I  felt  willing  to  endure 
any  toil,  or  make  any  sacrifice  within  the  compass  of  my  power, 
to  meet  the  expectations  of  the  Church,  and  give  our  people  an 
educational  institution  of  our  own. 

The  following  March  I  attended  the  Maryland  Conference 
in  Baltimore,  and  did  well  in  making  collections  on  outstand- 
ing obligations.  I  did  well,  also,  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
The  debtors  to  the  college  in  these  places  had  not  thought  of 
repudiating  our  claims  because  President  Cox  had  left  us  and 
started  a  rival  institution  at  Lynchburg.  While  in  Baltimore, 
I  gained  information  which  led  me  to  believe  that,  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Virginia  Conference,  our  college  claims  would  be 
paid,  if  an  agent  were  sent  there  authorized  to  make  collections. 
In  the  month  of  April,  the  trustees  determined  to  make  the 
experiment  and  see  what  could  be  done;  and,  for  want  of  a 
more  competent  agent,  they  sent  me  on  that  enterprise.  After 
making  an  arrangement  with  my  colleagues  so  as  to  have  the 
duties  of  my  chair  in  college  attended  to,  I  left  home  on  a  col- 
lecting tour  in  Old  Virginia.  In  the  city  of  Washington,  sick- 
ness came  upon  me,  and  I  was  detained  about  ten  days.  Dur- 
ing this  time,  I  found  a  resting-place  and  very  kind  attention 
at  the  house  of  brother  Drake;  and  at  intervals,  as  I  felt  able, 
went  out  in  the  city,  to  Georgetown,  Alexandria,  and  a  little 
into  the  country,  to  attend  to  our  college  interests.  Wherever 
President  Cox's  influence  extended,  I  had  no  success.  Yet  I 
made  some  collections  even  in  Georgetown,  his  old  home,  where 
he  was  stationed  when  we  called  him  to  Madison  College. 

Leaving  Washington,  I  went  by  boat  and  railroad,  through 
RichTuond,  to  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  and  took  lodgings  at  a 
public  house.  There  I  supposed  myself  to  be  an  utter  stranger 
to  every  body.  Soon  a  student,  formerly  of  Madison  College, 
found  me.  He  informed  Rev.  W.  A.  Crocker,  superintendent 
25 


394  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

of  the  Lynchburg  Station,  that  I  was  in  the  city,  and  he  im- 
mediately called  to  see  me.  Then  came  a  number  of  the  stu- 
dents who  had  been  drawn  off  from  Madison  to  Lynchburg 
College,  all  glad  to  see  me,  one  of  whom  wished  himself  back 
again.  The  next  morning  I  commenced  early  to  hunt  up  the 
men  of  whom  I  expected  to  make  collections.  All  acknowledged 
the  claims  of  our  college  against  them  to  be  just,  and  that  if 
they  did  not  send  their  sons  to  be  educated  at  Madison  College 
80  as  to  get  the  value  for  their  money,  that  was  their  own 
matter,  and  did  not  destroy  the  validity  of  our  claim.  They 
had  given  their  scholarship  notes,  and  thus  created  a  reliance 
upon  them  for  money  to  carry  on  the  college.  But  they  wanted 
a  little  time  for  reflection ;  so  I  gave  them  until  the  next  day, 
and  returned  to  my  lodgings.  I  supposed  these  men  wanted  to 
consult  among  themselves,  or,  perhaps,  to  take  legal  counsel  as 
to  what  was  best  to  be  done. 

That  afternoon.  Rev.  S.  K.  Cox  sent  his  carriage,  with  a  po- 
lite note  in  the  hand  of  the  driver,  inviting  me  to  his  residence, 
a  short  dist^ance  in  the  country,  and  to  make  his  house  my 
home  while  I  remained  in  that  vicinity.  On  receiving  this  in- 
vitation, all  that  Cox  had  done  destructive  of  the  interests  of 
Madison  College  came  up  to  my  mind.  "What  should  I  do? 
Finally,  I  concluded  that,  as  the  injury  he  had  done  was  not  to 
me  personally,  but  to  the  college,  and  as  a  refusal  to  visit  him 
might  not  only  offend  him,  but  offend  the  people  too,  and  ob- 
struct my  collecting  operations  in  Lynchburg,  it  would,  there- 
fore, be  best  to  accept  his  invitation.  While  at  his  house,  I  met 
with  Rev.  R.  B.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  and  one  or  two  of  the 
former  professors  at  Madison  College,  all  very  civil  and  clever 
to  me,  but  full  of  that  Southern  feeling  which  ultimately  brought 
on  the  rebellion.  I  visited  the  college  buildings;  saw  the  mili- 
tary drill  of  the  students ;  went  up  to  the  observatory  to  view 
the  city  and  the  surrounding  country,  and  found  the  scene  truly 
grand.  That  night.  Dr.  Thompson,  Cox,  and  I  talked,  until 
a  late  hour,  about  matters  North  and  South.  They  supposed 
there  were  troubles  brewing  in  our  country,  and  if  the  troubles 
came,  they  would  certainly  be  true  to  Southern  interests.     In  all 


A    SOUTHERN    VIEW    OF    SLAVE-TRADESTG.  395 

this  conversation,  I  took  the  ground  that  there  was  good  sense 
and  good  feeling  enough  in  this  nation  to  settle  all  our  per- 
plexing questions  without  a  war.  The  next  morning,  Dr. 
Thompson  urged  me  to  attend  the  Virginia  Conference  in  the 
fall,  at  which  time  he  would  pay  his  arrearages  to  Madison 
College.  Cox  paid  the  interest  on  his  college  note  then,  and 
they  both  wished  me  success  in  making  collections.  This  was 
better  than  I  expected  from  them.  AVhen  I  was  about  leaving, 
Mr.  Cox  took  me  into  the  city  in  his  carriage,  and  if  he  did 
not  aid,  he  did  not  obstruct  me  in  accomplishing  the  object  of 
my  mission.  All  the  people  with  whom  I  had  business  treated 
me  kindly,  and  such  of  them  as  were  able  paid  oif  their  notes. 
I  then  went  by  railroad,  through  Petersburg,  to  City  Point, 
where  I  took  a  steamer  for  Norfolk.  From  thence  I  went  to 
Hampton  and  Fortress  Monroe.  In  all  these  places  I  made 
collections  for  the  college,  amounting  in  all  to  between  four 
and  five  hundred  dollars. 

The  following  conversation,  which  occurred  at  the  tea-table, 
in  a  pretty  large  company,  at  the  house  of  brother  John  Brown, 
in  Hampton,  while  I  was  thei-e,  will  illustrate  the  feeling  of  the 
people  in  that  part  of  Virginia  on  the  subject  of  slavery: 
"Brother  Brown,"  said  one  of  the  guests,  "what  did  you  think 
of  the  Doctor's  speech  last  night  in  the  Old-side  love-feast?" 
"It  filled  me  with  horror,"  replied  our  host.  "  I  never  had  such 
feelings  in  a  love-feast  before  in  all  my  life.  With  gushing 
tears  the  Doctor  expressed  his  hope  of  meeting  his  dear  old 
father,  who  had  died  a  short  time  before,  in  the  kingdom  of 
glory,  when  in  my  heart  I  really  did  believe  that  his  father 
was  in  hell."  "Come,  come,  brother  Brown,"  said  I,  "who 
made  you  the  judge  of  all  the  earth,  to  fix  the  doom  of  a  fel- 
low-mortal in  that  kind  of  style?"  "Why,"  returned  he,  "we 
all,  in  this  part  of  Virginia,  think  slaveholding,  without  slave- 
trading,  is  bad  enough ;  but  the  Doctor's  father  had  been  for 
many  years  in  the  slave-trade,  buying  up  negroes — parting  hus- 
bands and  wives,  parents  and  children — and  driving  them  to 
the  Southern  plantations,  and  selling  them  there  into  hopeless 
bondage.     We,  in  these  parts,  do  not  believe  such  a  man  can 


396  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

be  saved."  "Now,"  said  I,  "if  I  had  heard  such  a  speech  at 
home,  in  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  I  should  have  called  it  an 
abolition  speech,  but  what  shall  I  call  it  here  in  Virginia?" 
All  at  the  table  agreed  that  I  might  give  it  whatever  name  I 
pleased.  It  fully  expressed  the  sentiment  and  feeling  of  the 
better  sort  of  people  in  that  part  of  the  Old  Dominion. 

From  Hampton  I  returned  home  by  way  of  Baltimore,  and 
found  all  well ;  but  I  was  very  much  worn  out  myself  by  the 
toils  of  travel  in  the  South.  After  a  little  rest,  I  entered 
upon  college  duties  again,  and  continued  to  the  close  of  the 
collegiate  year.  When  the  annual  commencement  came  on,  in 
June,  we  had  six  graduates ;  to-wit :  G .  W.  Burns,  J.  N.  Cas- 
sell,  A.  W.  Ross,  C.  H.  Causey,  D.  W.  Lawson,  and  E.  W. 
Stephens.  These  were  all  respectable  young  gentlemen,  of 
promising  talents  and  fine  acquirements ;  and  J  hope  they  are 
now  doing  good  service  somewhere  for  the  benefit  of  our  race, 
the  honor  of  their  Grod,  and  their  own  present  and  eternal  wel- 
fare. The  exercises  of  that  occasion  gave  general  satisfaction  to 
the  public ;  and  though  there  was  much  in  our  financial  embar- 
rassme^its  to  give  me  great  concern,  yet  the  trustees  determined 
that  the  college  should  be  carried  on.  Again  I  had  to  make 
myself  responsible  for  three  hundred  dollars  to  pay  my  col- 
leagues, all  of  whom  left  me.  McElroy  and  Gofi"  took  positions 
in  a  3Iethodist  Protestant  college  in  North  Illinois,  and  Ban- 
croft returned  to  his  home,  near  Meadville,  Pennsylvania.  This 
was  a  great  trial  to  me.  Only  Amos  Hutton,  who  had  been 
Principal  of  the  preparatory  department,  was  left  toward  a  new 
corps  of  laborers  for  the  ensuing  year. 

During  the  vacation,  efi^orts  were  made  in  all  directions  to 
secure  patronage,  an  increase  of  funds,  and  a  competent  faculty. 
Ultimately,  John  Deford,  a  graduate  of  Madison  College,  and 
William  Campbell,  a  graduate,  I  think,  of  Jeflierson  College, 
both  of  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  were  elected  by  the  trustees 
as  my  fellow-laborers  iu  the  up-hill  business  of  running  Madi- 
son College.  Amos  Hutton  was  continued  as  Principal  of  the 
preparatory  department.  At  the  appointed  time,  in  September, 
the  college  was  opened  in  due  form.     We  only  had  about  forty 


SITUATION    OF    UNIONTOWN.  397 

studonts.  Neither  the  town,  the  country,  or  the  Church  had 
given  us  the  patronage  that  was  expected.  But  we  held  on  our 
way,  hoping,  praying,  and  hiboriug  hard  for  success.  In  the 
fall,  I  attended  the  Virginia  Conference,  in  view  of  college  in- 
terests, and  had  only  partial  success  in  collecting  funds.  At 
our  Conference  in  Pittsburgh,  in  September,  I  hq,d  obtained  but 
little  encouragement.  A  visit  to  Cincinnati,  on  college  business, 
toward  spring,  gave  me  but  little  hope.  So,  shortly  after  my 
return,  on  consultation  with  the  trustees,  it  was  deemed  advis- 
able to  close  the  college  and  give  up  the  struggle.  A  contro- 
versy in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  looking  to  a  suspen- 
sion of  official  cooperation  between  the  North  and  the  South, 
was  against  us.  The  citizens  of  Uniontown  had  not  paid  more 
than  half  of  their  part  for  the  new  addition  to  the  college  build- 
ing, and  the  property  was  in  danger  of  being  sold  to  pay  the 
balance  and  other  debts.  This,  too,  was  against  us.  That  por- 
tion of  the  endowment  fund  which  came  into  the  hands  of  the 
treasurer  was,  by  order  of  the  board,  used,  from  early  date,  to 
pay  the  professors — the  board  promising  interest.  This,  when 
it  became  known  to  our  people,  was  likewise  very  much  against 
us.  A  non-paying  institution,  crippled  in  so  many  ways,  could 
not  be  carried  on.  Madison  College,  if  my  information  be  cor- 
rect, has  been  sold  to  pay  debts  due  on  the  property  and  other 
debts;  and  I  have  been  a  great  sufferer  in  many  ways  by  my 
efforts  to  carry  on  that  institution  for  the  Church.  My  head 
turned  gray  very  fast  while  I  resided  in  Uniontown.  All  col- 
leges, to  be  successful,  should  have  a  full  endowment,  perma- 
nently invested,  before  a  single  student  is  ever  admitted  to  their 
halls. 

As  to  Uniontown  itself,  it  was  beautifully  situated  in  a  healthy, 
picturesque  region  of  country.  Among  the  inhabitants  there 
was  a  considerable  amount  of  mental  and  moral  culture,  and  a 
high  degree  of  sociality  of  character.  Yet  it  was  not  a  good 
place  for  a  college.  The  railroad  had  drawn  away  travel  from 
the  old  National  Pike,  and  had  thereby  greatly  reduced  the 
amount  of  business  done  in  the  place.  Business  of  all  kinds 
was  very  much  run  down.     As  in  a  man  of  declining  health  all 


398  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

energy  for  business  is  gone,  so  in  a  waning  town  all  enterprise 
is  at  an  end.  Colleges  should  always  be  located  in  the  midst 
of  a  prosperous,  enterprising  people.  It  takes  a  people  to  feel 
assured  that  they  are  making  money  before  they  can  be  habitu- 
ally in  the  spirit  of  giving  money  to  build  up  colleges,  or  to 
sustain  any  other  benevolent  enterprise. 

While  I  was  in  Uniontown,  the  question  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church  in  the  free  States  suspending  all  official  con- 
nection with  the  slaveholding  Conferences  and  Churches  in  the 
South  was  argued  in  our  Church  paper  in  the  West.  I  was  as 
fully  convinced  that  slavery  was  a  great  moral,  social,  political, 
and  domestic  evil  as  any  of  my  brethren.  I  was  as  certain  as 
any  of  them  that  an  end  of  the  cooperation  of  the  Churches 
North  and  South  would  soon  come ;  but,  for  a  time,  I  did  not 
agree  with  them  as  to  the  manner  of  bringing  it  about.  I  now 
believe  that  they  were  right  and  I  was  wrong,  and  that  there 
was  an  overruling  Providence  shaping  our  course  and  directing 
our  affairs,  when,  in  the  convention  of  1858,  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church  in  the  free  States  did  suspend  all  official 
connection  with  the  slaveholding  Conferences  and  Churches  of 
the  South.  In  doing  that  act,  we  defined  our  position  as  a 
Church  on  the  slave  question.  We  retained  our  ministers  and 
members,  who,  on  account  of  our  connection  with  the  South, 
would  have  gone  off  from  us  to  other  Churches.  In  doing  that 
act  we  were  guided  by  a  higher  wisdom  than  our  own,  in  an 
escape  from  the  ruinous  condition  into  which  the  coming  M'ar — 
not  seen  by  us — would  have  plunged  our  Church.  In  doing 
that  act  we  did  not,  like  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  hang 
on  to  slavery  connections  until  the  President  of  the  United 
States  bad  killed  slavery  by  his  proclamation  of  freedom.  In 
doing  that  act,  in  obedience  to  our  clearest  convictions  of  moral 
right,  without  waiting  for  the  civil  or  military  power  to  open 
our  way,  we  did  what  we  never  expect  to  regret  while  life  or 
thought  or  being  lasts,  or  immortality  endures. 


DELEGATES    TO   THE    SPRINGFIELD   CONVENTION.        399 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

Delkoates  Elected  by  Pittsbdrgh  Conference  to  the  Convention  at  Springfield, 
Ohio— Missionary  Work  and  Farmin(;  Operations— Meeting  of  Committees  on  the 
Union  of  the  Wksleyan  and  Mf.tuodist  Protestant  Churches— Compilation  of  a 
Hymn-book  — Visit  of  Fraternal  Messengers  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  to  the  Pittsburgh  Conference— Visit  as  Fraternal  Messenger  to  the 
Pittsburgh  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  Blairsville, 
Pennsylvania— Removal  to  Vicinity  of  McKeesport,  Pennsylvania— Elected 
Editor  op  Western  Methodist  Protestant- Removal  to  Springfield,  Ohio— 
DEA.TH  of  both  My  Sons— Views  and  Wishes  on  Ecclesiastical  Matters. 

In  September,  1858,  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  was 
held  in  Conuellsville,  Pennsylvania.  It  was  an  important  and 
interesting  session  of  that  body,  and  made  a  favorable  impres- 
sion on  the  community.  Delegates  were  elected  to  the  Spring- 
field Convention,  and  instructed  to  take  action  in  favor  of  a 
suspension  of  all  official  ecclesiastical  relations  with  slavehold- 
ing  and  slave-trading  Conferences  and  Churches,  as  already 
stated.  Kevs.  J.  Scott,  J.  Robinson,  and  myself  were  the  min- 
isterial delegates.  Brothers  John  Redman,  George  Pogue,  and 
S.  Homer  were  the  lay  delegates.  At  the  above-named  Con- 
ference, I  was  again  granted  a  superannuated  relation,  and  the 
brethren  treated  me  with  liberality  in  the  apportionment  of 
the  necessary  funds  for  the  subsistence  of  my  family.  But  as 
ministerial  laborers  were  scarce,  at  the  solicitation  of  friends, 
I  agreed  to  take  charge  of  the  Youghiogheny  Mission.  So  I 
left  Uniontown — the  scene  of  my  college  toils  and  sorrows — and 
removed,  in  the  fall,  to  Conuellsville,  that  I  might  by  means  of 
the  railroad  conveniently  reach  my  field  of  labor.  Once  more 
I  was  actively  engaged  in  the  itinerant  ranks,  and  felt  myself 
more  comfortable  in  striving  to  build  up  the  Church  than  in 
the  up-hill  business  of  trying  to  sustain  a  falling  literary  insti- 
tution.    On  that  mission  I   had  some  success.     A  society  was 


400  RECOLLECTIONS    OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

formed  at  Coultersville,  of  good  materials,  to  which  additions 
have  since  been  made,  and  there  is,  I  have  been  informed,  an 
intention  to  build  a  house  of  worship  the  ensuing  summer.  No 
Church  can  be  permanent  and  prosperous  without  a  house  in 
which  the  children  of  God  can  statedly  meet  for  Divine  service. 

While  on  that  mission,  I  rented  a  house  and  a  few  acres  of 
ground,  near  Braddocksfield,  of  my  old  friend  Robert  Milligan, 
to  which  I  moved  my  family  on  the  1st  of  April,  1859.  Hav- 
ing been  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  feeling  it  a  duty  to  do  all 
I  could  in  my  old  age  for  the  support  of  my  own  household, 
and  wishing  to  give  my  two  sons  honorable  employment,  I  en- 
tered upon  this  farming  enterprise,  and  crowded  that  six-acre 
lot  to  its  utmost  capacity  with  corn,  oats,  potatoes,  tomatoes, 
beans,  cabbage,  melons,  etc.  But,  alas  for  us !  the  ground,  be- 
ing far  worn,  was  not  very  productive;  and  there  was  not 
enough  of  it  for  such  agriculturists  as  we  were  to  make  a  com- 
fortable living  on.  The  situation  of  this  property  was  very 
pleasant,  as  it  overlooked  .steamboat  navigation  on  the  Monon- 
gahela  River  for  several  miles  on  one  side,  and  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  passed  across  the  upper  part  of  it  on  the  other  side. 
So,  between  the  passing  of  cars  and  steamers,  we  seemed  to  be 
where  the  world  was  in  motion  about  us.  The  neighborhood, 
too,  was  vei-y  agreeable;  but  our  house  was  too  small  to  suit 
us,  so  we  only  remained  there  one  year. 

As  to  my  farming  operations,  my  ncighboi's  gave  me  a  good 
deal  of  credit.  They,  on  each  side  of  me,  planted  the  small, 
refused  potatoes,  which  were  not  fit  for  table  use.  I  advised 
them  against  this,  and  told  them  if  they  would  have  good  po- 
tatoes they  must  plant  good  potatoes — always  to  take  the  best 
of  every  thing  for  seed.  My  seed  potatoes  were  the  best  I 
could  find  in  the  Pittsburgh  market.  My  neighbors'  ground 
was  about  like  my  own,  and  the  culture  was  about  the  same. 
The  tops  of  their  potatoes  were  very  luxuriant;  mine  were  so 
small  as  to  make  them  laugh  and  say  "they  had  the  ague." 
They  had  in  number  more  potatoes  than  I  had,  but,  like  their 
seed,  they  were  generally  small;  while  mine  were  very  large, 
and  of  a  superior  quality. 


EXPERIENCE    IN    FAPwMINa.  401 

Oa  the  4th  of  June,  a  very  severe  frost,  which  did  much 
damage  over  a  great  extent  of  country,  cut  off  the  young  corn, 
the  tomatoes,  and  the  Lima  beans.  My  neighbors  made  haste, 
as  the  season  was  far  advanced,  and  plowed  up  their  corn- 
ground  and  planted  again.  My  sons  and  I,  with  some  other 
help,  immediately  went  all  over  our  corn,  beans,  and  tomatoes, 
each  having  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  cut  the  tops  below  where 
the  frost  had  reached.  The  beans  and  tomatoes  sent  outside 
shoots  from  well-established  roots,  and  produced  abundantly ; 
and  the  corn,  being  well-rooted  in  the  ground,  came  right  on 
and  did  well.  But  I  noticed  that  in  every  instance  where  we 
failed  to  clip  the  corn  below  the  part  injured  by  the  frost,  the 
disease  went  down  into  the  root  and  destroyed  the  stalk  alto- 
gether. To  be  successful,  this  clipping  must  be  done  at  once; 
the  third  day  may  be  too  late. 

On  my  grounds  at  Braddocksfield  there  was  an  abundance 
of  plum-trees,  but  they  had  brought  no  fruit  to  perfection,  we 
were  told,  for  seven  years;  all  had  been  taken  by  the  curculio. 
My  neighbors  had  generally  lost  their  fruit  by  the  depredations 
of  the  same  insect.  To  remedy  this  evil,  I  followed  the  direc- 
tions of  some  old  agricultural  paper,  and,  by  applying  a  com- 
bination of  the  following  materials,  successfully  repelled  the 
enemy :  "  To  one  pound  of  whale-oil  soap,  add  four  ounces  of 
sulphur.  Mis  thoroughly,  and  dissolve  in  twelve  gallons  of 
water.  Take  one-half  peck  of  c{uickiime,  and,  when  well 
slacked,  add  four  gallons  of  water,  and  stir  well  together. 
When  settled  and  clear,  pour  off  the  transparent  part,  and  add 
the  soap  and  the  sulphur  mixture.  To  this  mixture,  add  four 
gallons  of  strong  tobacco-water.  Apply  this  compound  with 
a  garden  syringe  to  the  plum-trees,  when  the  plums  are  about 
the  size  of  small  peas.  Drench  the  foliage  well.  Should  raiu 
come  within  a  week,  the  mixture  should  be  applied  again." 
Not  only  did  this  compound  save  my  plums  from  destruction 
by  the  curculio,  but  it  drove  the  yellow-striped  bugs  from  my 
melons.  All  were  saved.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  when 
whale-oil  soap  could  not  be  obtained,  common  soft  soap  has 
been  substituted,  with  entire  success.     I  have  introduced  these 


402  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

little  matters  connected  with  my  agricultural  operations  not 
only  for  the  attention  they  gained  in  the  neighborhood,  but 
because  they  are  in  themselves  valuable  to  farmers. 

But  it  will  be  proper  to  turn  back  a  little,  in  the  history  of 
events,  to  the  Springfield  Convention  of  1858.  It  fell  to  my 
lot  to  preach  the  opening  sermon,  and  to  be  presiding  officer  of 
that  assembly.  I  have  already  referred  to  the  action  of  that 
body  in  suspending  all  official  cooperation  with  slaveholding  and 
glave-trading  Conferences  and  Churches.  At  that  convention, 
at  the  instance  of  Rev.  Cyrus  Prindle,  of  the  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist connection,  a  committee  on  Church  union  was  created,  to 
meet  a  committee  of  our  Wesleyan  brethren,  in  view  of  uniting 
the  two  denominations  in  one  body.  The  two  committees  met 
in  Pittsburgh,  and,  in  great  harmony,  took  such  action  and 
recommended  such  measures  as,  in  my  judgment,  ought  to  have 
united  the  two  communities  in  one  brotherhood.  But  a  discus- 
sion sprung  up  on  the  secret  society  question,  and  the  Church 
union  movement  was  a  failure.  As  I  was  an  acting  member  of 
this  joint  committee,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  success  of 
the  enterprise,  I  felt  afflicted  that  matters  over  which  neither 
civil  nor  ecclesiastical  legislation  ought  to  have  any  control 
should  have  been  brought  in  to  defeat  it.  In  view  of  the  con- 
templated union,  the  Springfield  Convention,  at  the  instance  of 
the  aforesaid  brother  Prindle,  agreed  to  appoint  a  committee  to 
act  with  Rev.  W.  A.  Brewster,  and  other  Wesleyan  brethren, 
in  compiling  a  Union  Hymn-book.  I  was  appointed  chairman 
of  said  committee.  Revs.  Joel  Dalbey,  S.  W.  Widney,  A.  H. 
Bassett,  and  J.  M.  Mayall  were  my  associates.  By  an  arrange- 
ment, the  labor  of  compiling  a  book  was  confided  to  brother 
Brewster.  When  he  had  completed  his  work,  the  Methodist 
Protestant  committee  was  notified  to  attend  at  Cleveland  and 
examine  it  before  its  publiction.  Brother  Bassett  and  myself 
were  the  only  members  who  attended.  After  several  days  em- 
ployed in  a  careful  examination  of  brother  Brewster's  compila- 
tion, we  gave  that  work  our  unqualified  approbation,  and  desired 
its  immediate  publication,  as  our  Church  was  in  pressing  need 
of  hymn-books.     But,  from  some  cause  never  fully  explained 


VISIT  OF  MESSENGERS  FROM  THE  M.  E.  CHURCH.       403 

to  me,  brother  Prindle  declined  issuing  tlie  book  until  after 
their  General  Conference.  With  a  famine  for  hymn-books  then 
on  our  Church,  our  people  could  not  possibly  endure  this  delay. 
So,  being  urged  by  my  brethren,  I  entered,  about  the  1st  of 
December,  1859,  upon  the  task  of  compiling  our  present  hymn- 
book  ;  and  by  constant  toil,  day  and  night,  I  brought  my  work 
to  a  close  on  the  14th  of  March,  took  it  to  Springfield,  and 
submitted  it  to  the  Board  of  Trust  for  publication.  Brother 
Bassett  constructed  the  index  and  made  various  necessary  cor- 
rections. Such  a  work  should  not  have  been  compiled  in  so 
great  a  hurry.  There  was  a  young  man  of  fine  poetic  taste  by 
my  side,  rendering  me  constant  assistance  in  the  execution  of 
this  task.  It  was  my  own  dear  son,  Henry  Bascom  Brown, 
who  has  since  passed  away  triumphantly  to  heaven. 

In  September,  1859,  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  was 
held  in  Sharpsburg,  Pennsylvania.  This  was  an  unusually  in- 
teresting and  profitable  session,  and  was  handsomely  entertained 
by  the  Churches  and  citizens.  We  had  in  attendance  two  fra- 
ternal messengers  from  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church — Rev.  Homer  J.  Clark,  D.  D.,  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Cox,  both  very  amiable  and  talented  Christian  ministers, 
whose  excellent  addresses  to  the  Conference  were  very  highly 
appreciated  by  the  members  of  the  body  and  the  spectators. 
These  two  messengers,  in  their  addresses,  drew  into  notice  the 
points  of  agreement  between  their  Church  and  ours  in  a  very 
happy  style.  I  was  then  called  upon  by  the  Conference  to 
respond.  In  doing  this,  I  brought  into  view  the  old  contro- 
versy, when  brother  Clark  and  I  were  on  opposite  sides,  in 
the  origin  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  Pittsburgh; 
that  at  that  time  both  of  us  had  honestly  done  what  we  could 
for  our  respective  causes,  and  in  opposition  to  each  other ;  yet, 
on  my  part,  I  had  always  believed  him  to  be  a  Christian  gen- 
tleman, and  I  hailed  him  in  our  midst  in  the  same  character. 
I  then  said  it  was  true  that  in  Christian  doctrines,  experience, 
and  practice  the  two  Churches  were  alike;  but  in  one  thing  we 
differed.  We  had  the  lay  element  in  our  ecclesiastical  economy, 
and  they  had   not.      If  the   time   should   ever  come  when  the 


404  RECOLLECTIONS    OF    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  would  adopt  lay  delegation  in  her 
Annual  and  General  Conferences,  the  two  Churches  could  then 
unite  and  become  one  body,  but  not  until  then;  for  we  were 
a  lay  delegation  people,  and  did  believe  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  had  as  much  right  to  a  free  representative  government 
as  the  State.  As  I  was  proceeding,  brother  Clark  threw  in  a 
response  in  favor  of  lay  delegation,  saying  that  a  very  consider- 
able proportion  of  the  ministers  of  his  Conference  (I  forget  the 
exact  proportion)  agreed  with  their  Methodist  Protestant  breth- 
ren on  that  subject.  The  whole  assembly  on  hearing  this  gave 
vent  to  their  feelings  of  delight  by  thanking  God,  and  in  va- 
rious ways  indicated  their  gratification.  Other  responses  were 
made,  (I  forget  by  whom,)  and  the  interview  with  these  fraternal 
messengers  was  an  occasion  of  great  pleasure  to  us  all.  Wil- 
liam J.  Troth,  an  excellent  lay  brother,  and  myself  were  then 
chosen  fraternal  messengers  to  the  ensuing  Pittsburgh  Confer- 
ence of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  were  instructed 
to  bear  to  that  body  friendly  greetings  from  our  brethren,  con- 
tained in  a  preamble  and  sundry  resolutions,  favorable  to  the 
union  upon  proper  principles. 

During  this  Conference,  I  was  appointed  to  preach  on  the  old 
battle-ground,  corner  of  Smithfield  and  Seventh  Streets.  The 
old  meeting-house  had  been  replaced  by  a  new  one,  of  greatly 
superior  style  and  capacity.  A  great  change  in  the  congrega- 
tion had  taken  place.  But  few  of  the  old  members  remained. 
On  that  spot,  in  the  old  house,  I  had  organized  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church,  in  the  month  of  June,  1829.  Thirty  years 
since  that  event  had  now  gone  by,  and  I  supposed  the  old  an- 
tipathies against  me  for  my  reform  principles  and  actions  still 
remained  among  our  Methodist  Episcopal  brethren  in  that  sta- 
tion. On  hearing  the  appointments  for  the  Sabbath-day  an- 
nounced, and  that  I  was  to  preach  in  the  aforesaid  church,  I 
was  taken  by  surprise.  I  arose  and  asked  if  that  appointment 
would  be  agreeable?  I  was  assured  by  the  appointing  authori- 
ties that  it  would,  and  that  it  had  been  made  by  the  special 
request  of  the  minister  and  official  members  of  that  station.  I 
then  agreed,  with  unspeakable  pleasure,  to  fill  the  appointment. 


FRATERNAL  MESSENGERS  TO  PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE.    405 

I  had  a  large  audience,  and  God  gave  me  unusual  liberty  in 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  that  people.  When  service  was  over, 
and  I  had  gone  from  the  pulpit  into  the  altar,  a  great  number 
came  forwa-rd  to  greet  me,  and  there  was  no  little  shaking  of 
hands  on  that  occasion.  I  had  many  invitations  to  dinner,  but 
brother  Siusebaugh,  the  preacher  in  charge,  claimed  me  as  his 
guest.  I  was  urged  to  remain  and  preach  again  at  night,  but 
having  another  engagement,  I  could  not  comply.  The  secret 
leading  to  all  this  kindness  to  me  is  found  in  the  fact  that,  in 
the  course  of  thirty  years,  this  people  had  become  friendly  to 
lay  delegation.  They  respected  me  because  I  had  respected 
m^  principles,  which  now,  at  last,  God  had  taught  them  to 
love. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1860,  brother  W.  J.  Troth  and  my- 
self attended  the  Pittsburgh  Annual  Conference  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  in  Blairsville,  Pennsylvania,  as  fraternal 
messengers.  On  being  introduced  to  Bishop  Janes,  he  intro- 
duced us  to  the  body,  and  we  were  received  and  treated  in  a 
very  friendly  manner  by  the  brethren.  By  request  of  the 
Bishop,  I  occupied  a  scat  by  his  side  in  the  altar  until  the  Con- 
ference adjourned  for  dinner,  and  he  wished  me  to  continue  to 
occupy  it  afterward,  but  I  asked  him  to  excuse  me  from  sitting 
in  so  conspicuous  a  place,  and  said,  if  it  would  be  equally  agree- 
able to  him,  I  would  rather  take  a  seat  among  the  members  of 
the  Conference. 

I  was  then  asked  by  the  Bishop  if  it  would  suit  us  to  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  deliver  our  fraternal  addresses,  or  would  we 
prefer  delaying  them  to  a  set  time.  I  told  him  that  brother 
Troth  and  I  were  comparative  strangers  to  the  Conference,  and 
it  would  be  an  accommodation  to  us  if  a  delay  were  allowed,  so 
as  to  give  us  a  chance  to  become  acquainted  with  the  brethren. 
The  fact  is,  to  appear  before  the  Pittsburgh  Conference,  of 
which  I  had  once  been  a  member,  and  in  which  thirty-one  years 
had  made  so  many  changes,  by  thinning  out  the  old  members 
and  introducing  new  ones,  affected  me  much.  I  was  in  no  con- 
dition at  that  time  to  do  justice  to  myself  or  to  my  Confer- 
ence in  delivering  an  address.     A  time  was  then  appointed  for 


406  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT   LIFE. 

our  addresses.  The  next  morning,  at  ten  o'clock,  tliere  was  a 
Conference  sacrament.  The  Bishoi^  invited  me  into  the  altar, 
to  assist  him  in  those  sacred  services.  It  was  an  unusually  rich 
and  solemn  sacramental  feast,  and  I  was  made  to  feel  entirely 
at  home  among  the  brethren. 

When  the  appointed  time  came  for  our  addresses  to  be  de- 
livered, the  house  was  crowded.  I  was  called  into  the  altar  to 
speak.  After  reading  our  certificates  of  election  as  fraternal 
messengers,  and  the  preamble  and  resolutions  of  our  Conference 
on  the  subject  of  friendly  relations  between  the  two  bodies,  and 
indicating  a  desire  for  a  future  union,  I  proceeded  with  my  ad 
dress,  and  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Conference  all  the  points 
of  agreement  between  the  two  Churches.  When  this  was  done, 
I  stated  that  there  was  one  important  point  of  difference :  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  had  the  lay  element;  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  had  not.  Then  turning  to  the  Bishop, 
I  said :  "  Mr.  President,  I  ask  your  pardon ;  I  ought  to  have  had 
your  permission  before  I  broached  this  matter."  "  Not  at  all," 
said  the  Bishop;  "go  on,  go  on."  I  then  proceeded  to  say:  "I 
am  not  intrusted  by  my  Conference  with  any  terms  for  the  basis 
of  union ;  but,  understanding  it  to  be  your  doctrine  that  Bishops 
and  Elders  are  the  same  order,  according  to  the  New  Testament, 
and  that  you  consider  your  third  ordination  as  nothing  more 
than  the  conferment  of  ofl&ce,  1  will  tell  you  what  I  will  agree 
to,  and  I  think  our  Church  generally  would  do  the  same. 
We  will  take  your  episcopacy  if  you  will  take  our  lay  delega- 
tion." My  remarks  were,  I  think,  well  received  by  the  breth- 
ren. Brother  Troth's  address  then  followed.  It  was  every 
way  creditable  to  himself  as  a  layman,  and  to  the  cause  he  rep- 
resented. A  number  of  the  members  of  the  Conference  re- 
sponded in  a  very  friendly  and  handsome  style,  making  me  feel 
it  very  pleasant  indeed  to  be  in  that  assembly  of  Christian 
ministers.  At  last  came  the  old  warriors — with  whom  I  had 
contended  in  former  years — one  after  another,  to  the  front  of 
the  altar,  and,  with  much  tender  feeling,  gave  me  their  hands 
in  token  of  friendship.  Each  spoke  a  few  words  of  the  hard 
struggle  between  the  parties  in  years  gone  by,  and  all  seemed 


REMOVAL    TO    VICINITY    OF    m'kEESPORT.  407 

disposed  to  peace  and  friendship  now.  My  own  Leart  was 
deeply  moved,  and  I  could  scarcely  restrain  my  tears. 

When  I  proposed  that  we  would  take  their  episcopacy  if 
they  would  take  our  lay  delegation,  I  knew  then,  as  well  as  I 
do  now,  that  in  their  episcopacy  there  was  a  power  that  ought 
not  to  be  there.  But  it  was  then  my  judgment,  as  it  is  now, 
that  a  lay  delegation,  admitted  into  the  General  and  Annual 
Conferences,  would  easily  regulate  all  such  matters.  Let  our 
Methodist  Episcopal  brethren  adopt  lay  delegation  in  an  avail- 
able form,  then  the  way  for  Church  union  will  be  fairly  open. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1860,  I  removed  with  my  family  to 
Prospect  Hill,  near  McKeesport,  seven  miles  further  up  the 
Monongahela  River.  Here  I  had  a  larger  and  better  house, 
with  twelve  acres  of  ground,  in  an  excellent  neighborhood.  I 
leased  this  property  from  Edward  H.  Fisher  for  three  years. 
We  were  all  well  pleased  with  the  change.  Our  habitation  was 
on  an  eminence,  affording  us  a  fine  view  of  the  Monongahela 
for  several  miles  up  and  down,  and  between  us  and  the  river 
ran  the  Pittsburgh  and  Counellsville  Railroad.  So,  the  passing 
of  boats  and  cars  made  ours  rather  a  lively  country  home.  On 
that  little  farm  my  sons,  Henry  and  George,  and  I  found  full 
employment.  We  occupied  all  our  ground  with  something. 
We  raised  oats,  corn,  hay,  potatoes,  tomatoes,  cabbage,  melons, 
beans,  etc.  The  orchard  did  well.  We  had  an  abundance  of 
peaches,  plums,  and  cherries,  of  the  finest  quality,  but  not  many 
apples.  While  at  that  pleasant  rural  home,  our  coal  only  cost 
us  three  cents  per  bushel.  We  lived  in  the  midst  of  plenty, 
and  had  many  comforts  to  repay  our  toils.  But  there  was  one 
drawback.  We  had  no  well-established  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  in  McKeesport.  We  had  a  small  society,  but  no  house 
of  worship,  and  the  members  being  generally  poor,  we  were  not 
able  to  build  one.  In  a  short  time  a  Church  trial  divided  our 
little  brotherhood,  and  the  downfall  of  the  whole  concern  soon 
followed.     "A  house  divided  against  itself  can  not  stand." 

In  September,  1860,  the  Pittsburgh  Conference  was  held  at 
the  Pleasant  Valley  Church,  Green  County,  Pennsylvania.  My 
two  sons,  Rev.  D.  I.  K.  Riue,  our  preacher,  and  myself  all  went 


408  RECOLLECTIOXS    OP    ITINERANT    LIFE. 

to  it  in  a  carriage  together.  We  had  a  pleasant  drive  of  nearly 
two  days,  enlivened  all  the  way  by  singing  and  interesting  Con- 
versation. The  brethren  were  well  entertained  at  the  Confer- 
ence by  the  people  of  the  surrounding  neighborhood,  and  were 
brought  to  and  taken  from  the  place  of  our  naeeting  in  buggies, 
carriages,  and  wagons.  A  Conference  in  a  country  place  was  a 
new  thing.  It  excited  great  interest  in  that  community,  and  was 
numerously  attended  by  the  citizens.  My  sou  Henry  was  there 
received  into  the  intinerant  ministry.  I  regarded  this  step  as 
an  experiment,  as  his  lungs  were  weak ;  but  the  brethren  were 
disposed  to  give  him  a  trial.  He  had  a  heart  to  work  for 
Christ,  and,  with  some  degree  of  reluctance,  on  account  of  his 
health,  I  agreed  that  he  might  go  forth  as  a  laborer  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  Lord,  and  do  the  best  he  could  for  the  Saviour's 
cause. 

In  the  month  of  November  I  attended  the  convention  in 
Pittsburgh,  and  was  chosen  to  preside  over  the  deliberations  of 
that  body.  I  was  likewise  elected  editor  of  the  Western  Meth- 
odist Protestant  for  the  next  two  years.  The  brethren,  I  think, 
did  this  because  they  desired  to  draw  me  forth  from  my  rural 
retreat,  and  make  my  services  available  to  the  Church  awhile 
longer.  After  a  few  days  of  consideration,  I  finally  concluded 
to  accept  the  position,  in  view  of  trying  in  some  way  to  be  use- 
ful to  the  Church  to  the  end  of  life.  In  advanced  age,  as  well 
as  in  early  life,  men  must  have  reputable  employment  in  order 
to  be  happy.  I  left  my  family,  on  Prospect  Hill,  in  the  care 
of  my  son  George,  and,  about  the  1st  of  December,  commenced 
editorial  life  in  Springfield.  I  found  a  comfortable  home  in 
the  hospitable  dwelling  of  my  old  friend  Rev.  A.  H.  Bassett, 
the  former  editor.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  kindness  of  that 
dear  brother  and  his  excellent  lady  and  niece.  Had  I  been  a 
father  to  the  whole  family  I  could  not  have  been  cared  for 
with  a  greater  amount  of  tenderness  and  respect. 

In  the  month  of  March,  I  returned  to  my  family,  and  at  a 
public  sale  disposed  of  my  property,  and  prepared  for  a  re- 
moval to  Springfield.  Such  a  removal,  being  a  very  heavy 
operation    on    the    physical    energies   of  my  wife   and   myself, 


DEATH   OF   MY    TWO    SONS.  409 

brought  us  both  to  the  conclusion  that  we  would  move  no  more. 
Itinerant  life  had  kept  us  moving  for  about  forty  years;  so  we 
deemed  it  time  to  stop.  After  rendering  very  imperfect  service 
as  editor  of  the  Western  Methodist  Protestant  for  two  years, 
and  suffering  much  in  my  health  from  that  sedentary  employ- 
ment, the  convention  of  18G2  elected  Dr.  D.  B.  Dorsey  as  my 
successor,  since  which  time  I  have  retired  from  public  life 
altogether. 

During  the  two  years  of  my  editorial  toils  I  lived  in  rented 
property.  In  the  spring  of  1862,  having  concluded  to  remain 
in  Springfield,  I  purchased  a  cottage  on  Pleasant  Street,  where 
I  now  reside.  This  is  a  pleasant,  prosperous  inland  city.  We 
live  in  an  agreeable  neighborhood.  The  Churches  of  this  place 
are  all  liberal  in  their  bearing  toward  each  other.  Our  own 
Church,  though  small,  is  quite  respectable.  Among  this  peo- 
ple I  expect  to  remain  until  it  shall  please  God  to  call  me  home. 
I  am  now  advancing  rapidly  into  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  my 
earthly  pilgrimage.  In  the  natural  course  of  events,  I  shall 
soon  pass  away.  To  be  ready  for  my  change  is  now  the  great 
object  of  my  life.  In  the  review  of  the  past  which  I  have 
taken,  I  have  found  much  to  humble  me  in  the  dust  before  the 
Searcher  of  all  hearts.  Yet  I  thank  God  that  by  His  grace, 
in  Christ  Jesus,  "I  am  what  I  am."  It  is  now  a  little  over 
fifty  years  since  I  entered  the  itinerant  ministry  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  to  this  day  I  have  never,  in  a 
single  instance,  failed,  either  in  the  old  Church  or  the  new,  to 
attend  the  annual  sessions  of  the  Conference  to  which  I  be- 
longed ;  and  I  expect  to  attend  them  as  long  as  I  am  able.  For 
about  forty  years  in  succession  I  was  in  the  regular  itinerant 
work;  then  in  the  college;  then  on  the  farm;  then  editor;  now 
on  the  lookout  for  the  eternal  world. 

In  1863,  God,  whose  counsels  are  unsearchable,  took  from  me 
my  two  sons.  This  was  a  sore  stroke.  My  son  Henry,  the  su- 
perintendent of  Bellbrook  Circuit,  died  in  the  midst  of  his  peo- 
ple, by  whom  he  was  greatly  beloved,  on  the  9th  of  April,  in 
the  full  hope  of  a  glorious  immortality.  His  death  scene — the 
final  parting  with  father,  mother,  sister,  wife — who  can  describe? 
26 


410  PvECOLLECTIOXS    OF    ITIXER.ANT    LIFE. 

George  liad  been  in  the  ministry  too,  but  left  Ricbwood  Circuit 
and  volunteered  in  the  service  of  his  country.  He  was  in  the 
first  battle  at  Vicksburg  and  at  the  taking  of  Arkansas  Post ; 
but  being  overtaken  by  disease,  and  his  captain  assuring  me, 
by  letter,  that  he  could  not  live,  I  greatly  desired  to  bring  him 
home  to  die.  When  all  authority  from  Governor  Tod  and  Gen- 
eral Burnside  failed  to  reach  him,  I  appealed  to  my  old  friend 
Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  and  in  one  hour  after 
he  received  my  letter,  I  had  a  dispatch  from  him,  with  full  au- 
thority to  go  myself,  or  .send  an  agent,  and  bring  George  home; 
and  directing  all  superintendents  of  railroads  and  commanders 
of  Government  transports  to  give  me,  or  my  agent,  free  passage 
and  subsistence  there  and  back.  Immediately  I  repaired  to 
Cincinnati,  and  secured  the  services  of  S.  D.  Evans — a  brave 
young  soldier,  who  had  been  discharged  in  consequence  of  a 
wound  in  the  leg,  from  which  he  had  nearly  recovered — to  go 
as  my  agent  and  bring  home  my  son.  Through  most  appalling 
difficulties,  Evans  succeeded,  and  George  was  brought  to  Cin- 
cinnati. His  mother  and  I  met  him  there,  and,  at  the  house 
of  my  nephew,  Mr.  George  B.  Hodgson — who,  with  his  dear 
mother,  showed  us  every  possible  kindness — we  nursed  our 
emaciated  son  nine  days,  when  he  died.  George  had  carried 
his  religion  with  him  through  the  toils  of  camp-life,  and  it  sup- 
ported him  in  death.  On  the  23d  of  June  he  calmly  passed 
away  to  heaven.  Our  two  beloved  sons  were  called  away  from 
us  within  two  months  and  a  half  of  each  other.  I  had.  often 
indulged  the  hope  that  they  would  live  long  to  preach  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  after  I  had  finished  my  course  on  earth,  and 
•would  both  be  present  to  close  my  eyes  in  death  and  bury  me. 
But,  alas  for  me!  I  was  called  to  bury  them.  Such  was  the 
will  of  God,  "who  doeth  all  things  well."  All  my  sons,  five 
in  number,  have  gone  before  me.  God  took  three  of  them  in 
infancy.  The  last  two,  whose  training  cost  me  great  solicitude, 
were  called  away  in  manhood,  just  as  the  prospect  of  usefulness 
began  fairly  to  opeu  before  them.  God  gave  me  but  one  daiigh- 
ter.  Upon  her  I  strove  to  confer  the  advantage  of  a  good  ed- 
ucation, and,  what  is  still  better,  she  is  a  conscientious  Christian. 


VIEWS   ON   ECCLESIASTICAL   MATTERS.  411 

Her  husband,  Mr.  S.  J.  Ridgely,  an  amiable  Christian  gentle- 
man, passed  away  to  his  home  in  heaven  a  little  more  than  five 
years  ago;  so  my  widowed  daughter,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Ridgely,  and 
her  two  little  sons,  George  and  Adrian,  reside  with  us,  and  ai*e 
a  real  comfort  to  my  beloved  and  faithful  wife  and  myself,  in 
the  decline  of  life.  Grod  has  greatly  blessed  me  in  my  domestic 
relations.  Ours  is  a  happy  family,  and  we  are  all  living  in  hope 
of  overtaking  our  loved  ones  in  the  heavenly  country  above. 

My  life  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  and  I  am  striving  to 
hold  myself  in  readiness  to  go  hence  into  eternity,  whenever  it 
may  please  him  to  call  me.  But,  if  it  be  God's  will,  I  would 
like  to  live  to  see  an  end  of  this  terrible  war;  to  see  an  end 
of  American  slavery,  and  the  perfect  restoration  of  the  govern- 
ment of  my  country;  to  join  in  the  transports  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  at  the  return  of  peace;  to  see  Christianity  fill  the 
nation,  North  and  South,  and  take  a  firmer  hold  of  the  Amer- 
ican mind  and  heart  and  life  than  ever  heretofore,  and  make- 
the  people  of  these  United  States  one  great  civil  and  Christian 
brotherhood.  I  would  like  to  see  the  prospective  union  of  all 
the  non-episcopal  Methodists  in  our  country  consummated  on 
such  principles  as  would  secure  the  largest  liberty  to  the 
Churches  that  could  be  enjoyed  consistently  with  a  well- 
guarded,  efficient,  itinerant  ministry.  I  would  like  to  see  our 
Methodist  Episcopal  brethren  so  modify  their  ecclesiastical 
economy  as  to  lower  down  the  power  of  the  itinerant  clergy 
and  the  episcopacy,  and  introduce  a  lay  delegation  into  their 
Annual  and  General  Conferences,  so  that  the  whole  Methodist 
family  could  again  be  united  in  one  body.  But  should  these 
desirable  unions  never  occur,  it  is  still  the  duty  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church  to  fulfill  her  mission  in  spreading 
Christian  holiness  and  ecclesiastical  liberty  throughout  our 
country,  and  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  if  she  can.  Our  Church 
at  her  organization,  and  for  several  years  afterward,  met  with 
much  opposition  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Then, 
again,  she  suffered  from  her  connection  with  the  slavery  ques- 
tion, until,  in  1858,  to  -gain  relief,  and  to  save  her  very  exist- 
ence in  the  free  States,  she  came  boldly  up  to  the  act  of  sus- 


412  RECOLLECTIONS   OF   ITINERANT    LIFE. 

pending  all  official  cooperation  with  Churches  and  Conferences 
connected  with  slavery.  From  the  beginning,  our  Church  has 
been  greatly  in  need  of  a  faithful,  laborious,  enterprising  min- 
istry. Many  came  among  us,  apparently,  to  lounge  and  loiter, 
to  eat  bread  and  live,  who  always  contracted  but  never  enlarged 
the  work  assigned  them,  under  whose  worthless  ministry  the 
Church  always  suflfered  loss.  Such  men  do  no  good  in  any 
Christian  community.  Preachers  of  this  class  have  nearly  all 
passed  away,  and  it  will  be  well  for  the  Church  if  they  never 
return.  I  think  it  can  safely  be  said,  that  in  our  Church  we 
have  now  a  more  trustworthy  class  of  ministerial  laborers  than 
those  who  gave  us  trouble  and  brought  us  grief  in  former 
years. 

Notwithstanding  all  we  have  suffered  by  the  war  in  the  loss 
of  ministers  and  members,  some  of  whom  have  fallen  in  battle 
and  others  by  disease,  all  through  this  terrible  conflict  the 
cause  of  Christ,  as  committed  to  our  young  Church,  has  been 
on  the  advance.  Never,  since  we  have  been  a  Church,  have 
we  done  so  much  for  missions  as  we  are  now  doing.  The  pros- 
pect of  a  permanently  endowed  first-class  college  is  now  very 
good.  This  will  afford  educational  facilities  to  our  whole 
Church.  It  will  give  to  young  men  desirous  of  entering  the 
ministry  among  us  the  advantage  of  an  education  commen- 
surate with  the  wants  of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  This  will, 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  contribute  largely  to  the  permanency 
and  prosperity  of  the  Church.  Our  book  concern  and  Church 
paper,  through  which  we  send  out  the  literature  of  our  connec- 
tion into  all  the  circuits,  stations,  and  missions,  are  in  an  im- 
proved condition,  and  are  gaining  a  better  support  than  formerly. 

Should  the  contemplated  union  between  all  the  non-episcopal 
Methodist  bodies  be  eflFected  on  principles  satisfactory  to  all 
concerned,  I  will  be  glad  in  the  Lord.  Should  suitable  modi- 
fications be  made  in  the  government  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  so  as  to  admit  of  all  who  bear  the  name  of 
Methodism  being  united  in  one  body,  my  joy  will  be  greatly 
increased.  But  if,  from  any  cause  or  combination  of  causes, 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  should  be  destined  to  remain 


CLOSING   REMARKS.  413 

alone,  through  all  time  to  come,  I  shall  still  have  happiness. 
Ours  is  an  excellent  Christian  organization.  It  includes  at 
this  time  a  valuable  body  of  pious,  talented,  useful  ministers. 
Our  membership,  in  piety  and  liberality,  is,  in  my  judgment, 
equal  to  that  of  any  other  Church  in  the  land,  in  proportion  to 
their  numbers.  Let  our  college  be  established.  Let  us  have 
an  educated  ministry.  Let  educational  facilities  be  extended  to 
all  our  people,  male  and  female,  every-where.  Let  it  be  the 
high  and  holy  ambition  of  the  entire  body  to  spread  Christian 
holiness,  Christian  freedom,  and  Christian  education  throughout 
our  country  and  elsewhere,  then  God  will  give  to  our  Chu.rch 
a  glorious  future.  He  will  make  her  a  great  power  in  His 
own  hand  for  good  to  our  race,  and  a  happy  spiritual  home 
for  the  lovers  of  Christ  in  all  future  generations.  Why  may 
not  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  with  her  love  of  religion 
and  liberty  and  literature,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  go  down 
through  all  the  ages  of  the  millennium  ? 

In  closing  my  recollections  of  the  past,  I  must  add,  with 
gratitude  to  God,  that  this  is  a  memorable  day  to  me  and  to  this 
nation.  The  papers  have  this  day,  April  29,  1865,  brought  us 
the  news  of  the  overthrow  of  the  rebellion.  This  terrible  war 
is  ended ;  the  Government  is  saved ;  the  slaves  are  freed ;  peace 
will  soon  be  proclaimed,  and  the  American  flag,  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  star,  will  henceforth  wave  in  glorious  triumph 
over  "  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave !  "  "  Glory 
to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward 
men."  "Hallelujah!  for  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth." 
God  grant  that  Christianity  may  now  take  a  deeper  hold  than 
heretofore  on  the  whole  American  people,  and  heal  all  the  sor- 
rows of  our  entire  country. 


APPENDIX. 


AN     ADDRESS     TO     THK 

MINISTERS  AND  MEMBERS  OF  THE  M.  P.  CHURCH 

IN  ALL  THE  ANNUAL  CONFERENCES,  GREETING. 


Beloved  Brethren: 

It  seems  to  me  appropriate,  as  a  conclusion  to  what  I  have 
written  in  the  foregoing  pages,  that  I  should  now  achlress  a 
brief  communication  to  you  on  several  subjects  of  abiding  in- 
terest to  us  all.  Most  of  you  know  that  I  spent  a  number  of 
years  in  active  itinerant  labor  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  that  I  had  some  share  in  the  lay  delegation  controversy  in 
that  Church,  which,  contrary  to  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  all 
the  friends  of  reform,  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church;  and  that,  from  the  foundation  of  this 
last-named  Church,  I  have  stood  connected  with  her  his.tory  and 
her  interests,  doing  what  I  could,  in  every  position  assigned 
me,  for  her  advancement  and  prosperity.  I  therefore  trust  it 
will  not  be  considered  an  offensive  intrusion  if  I  speak  freely 
and  plainly  to  my  Christian  brethren  of  things  pertaining  to 
the  welfare  of  our  beloved  Church  before  I  am  called  away  to 
the  eternal  world.  Nearly  all  the  old  Keformers  with  whom  I 
once  had  the  honor  to  labor  have  gone  to  their  reward.  They 
were  men  of  precious  Tnemory.  I,  too,  must  soon  pass  away. 
Before  I  go,  please  indulge  me  a  little. 

It  is  often  said  by  those  who  are  not  friendly  to  our  young 
Church,  and  too  often  believed  by  the  uninformed,  in  and  out 
of  our  organization,  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the 
government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  that  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  and  that  a  change  from  the 
former  to  the  latter  is  attended  by  no  advantage  whatever.  Now, 
if  this  be  so,  it  will  certainly  follow  that  the  old  Reformers 
labored  long  and  hard,  and  suffered  much,  all  to  no  pui-pose, 

(415) 


416        ADDRESS    TO    THE    MINISTERS    AND    MEMBERS    OF 

and  that  it  would  be  a  dictate  of  sound  practical  common  sense 
for  us  all  to  return  immediately  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

But  before  we  abandon  our  ecclesiastical  organization,  we  ask 
to  be  heard  a  little  in  defense  of  the  old  Reformers.  Many  of 
you,  my  brethren,  have  often  heard  me  say,  in  former  years,  and 
I  will  here  repeat  the  saying  again,  "that  the  Methodist  Prot- 
estant Church  only  exists  to  be  despised,  unless  she  can  show 
very  good  reasons  for  her  existence."  To  multiply  distinct 
Christian  denominations,  without  an  adequate  cause  for  so  doing, 
is  certainly  a  most  foolish  and  wicked  transaction.  Did  the 
founders  of  the  3Iethodist  Protestant  Church  do  this  thing? 
Let  us  see. 

In  order  to  justify  the  existence  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  and  likewise  to  show  the  advantages  of  her  ecclesias- 
tical economy  over  that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  go  back  and  bring  into  notice  the  objec- 
tionable features  of  the  government  of  the  old  Church,  out  of 
which  we  came.  In  doing  this,  I  wish  to  use  all  possible  kind- 
ness, for  against  that  Church  I  have  no  word  of  complaint,  save 
only  against  the  government. 

In  1784,  just  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Dr.  Coke 
and  Francis  Asbury,  both  of  them  from  England — the  laud  of 
kings  and  bishops — with  but  few  republican  ideas  in  their 
minds,  and  certainly  no  Republican  love  in  their  hearts,  did  in- 
stitute and  establish  an  ecclesiastical  economy  for  the  Methodists 
in  this  country,  more  arbitrary  in  its  character  than  the  civil 
government  of  King  George  III,  which  the  Americans,  by  a 
seven  years'  war,  had  just  thrown  oiF,  at  the  expense  of  so  much 
blood  and  treasure.  By  the  Revolution,  republican  liberty  was 
gained  in  the  State.  By  means  of  these  two  Englishmen,  it 
was  lost  in  the  Methodist  Church;  for  they  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  itinerant  clergy  alone  all  the  legislative,  the  judicial, 
and  the  executive  powers  of  the  government,  leaving  the  local 
preachers  and  lay  members  of  the  Church  without  due  protec- 
tion against  this  itinerant  domination.  King  Grcorgo's  govern- 
ment, which  our  fathers  banished  by  a  bloody  revolution,  had 
three  principles  in  it — the  monarchical,  the  aristocratical,  and 
the  republican.  The  government  established  by  Coke  and  As- 
bury in  the  Methodist  Church  had  then  and  has  yet  but  two— 
the  monarchical  and  the  aristocratical.  Methodist  episcopacy 
answers  to  the  British  monarchy.  The  itinerant  power-holding 
system  for  life  answers  to  the  British  peerage.  But  in  Eng- 
land they  have  a  House  of  Commons,  where  the  people  are  rep- 
resented by  delegates  elected  by  themselves.     But  in  Episco- 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  417 

pal  Methodism  there  is  no  House  of  Commons.  The  people 
are  not  repi'esented  in  either  the  Greneral  or  Annual  Confer- 
ences. 

In  the  North  Western  Christian  Advocate,  for  February  15, 
1865,  Dr.  Charles  Elliott  tells  a  good  story  concerning  the  Brit- 
ish king.  He  tells  us  that  "  Greorge  III  was  himself  a  Meth- 
odist and  a  member  of  a  Methodist  class.  His  principal  gar- 
dener was  his  class-leader.  We  are  in  possession  of  several 
interesting  historical  items  on  this  subject  that  have  not  yet 
met  the  public  eye;  and  the  Methodist  element  imbued  several 
members  of  the  royal  family." 

The  British  king,  in  whose  government  there  was  some  re- 
publicanism, was  driven  out  of  this  land,  with  all  his  Methodism, 
because  he  wanted  to  tax  the  colonies  without  allowing  them 
the  right  of  representation.  But  what  arbitrary  rule  lost  in  the 
civil  department,  it  gained  and  more  than  gained  in  the  eccle- 
siastical, when  Dr.  Coke  and  Francis  Asbury  placed  the  Meth- 
odist Church  under  its  present  form  of  government.  Now  the 
people  bear  all  the  pecuniary  burdens  without  the  right  of 
representation. 

From  the  beginning  of  Episcopal  Methodism  in  this  country, 
there  were  men  of  eminence  to  be  found  in  the  ministry  and 
among  the  laity  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  who  were 
not  in  favor  of  an  ecclesiastical  government  which  ignored 
Church  representation.  The  old  Reformers  were  of  this  class. 
As  a  general  thing,  they  excused  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Asbury  for 
introducing  a  Church  government  so  arbitrary  in  its  character. 
These  gentlemen  had  been  taught  by  Mr.  Wesley,  who  was  no 
republican.  They  were  both  Englishmen,  and  probably  had  no 
ideas  in  their  minds  of  any  other  kind  of  government  than  au 
ecclesiastical  monarchy.  But  who  can  excuse  the  American 
Methodist  preachers,  who  in  this  free  country,  just  after  a  seven 
years'  war  for  republican  liberty,  allowed  such  a  Church  gov- 
ernment to  be  established?  All  the  divisions  in  Europe  and 
America  that  have  ever  taken  place  among  the  Methodists,  so 
far  as  I  am  informed,  have  grown  out  of  the  arbitrary  character 
of  the  government.  It  was  this  ministerial  government,  then, 
in  which  the  people  had  no  voice,  that  occasioned  and  did  in 
my  opinion  justify  the  controversy  which  resulted  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church.  The  old  Re- 
formers did  most  religiously  believe  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
had  as  much  right  to  a  free  representative  government  as  the 
United  States,  and,  acting  on  this  conviction,  they  introduced 
the  discussion  of  lay  rights,  first  in  the  "  Wesleyan  Reposi- 
tory," edited  by  W.  S.  Stockton,  a  layman,  au  intelligent,  noble- 


418       ADDRESS   TO    THE    MINISTERS   AND   MEMBERS    OP 

hearted  Christian  gentleman;  and  then  in  the  "Mutual  Rights," 
edited  by  a  committee  of  Christian  brethren,  some  of  whom 
■were  ministers  of  distinguished  ability  and  piety,  and  others 
were  laymen  of  unblemished  character  and  standing.  When 
this  discussion  was  entered  upon,  none  of  those  concerned  in  it 
had  any  thought  at  all  of  making  a  new  Church.  Our  object 
was  to  reform  the  government  of  the  old  one ;  but  in  this  thing 
we  were  doomed  by  the  ruling  authorities  to  a  sad  disappoint- 
ment. 

It  now  becomes  my  duty  to  justify  the  existence  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Chui'ch  as  a  distinct  Christian  denomination. 
When  a  party  in  controversy  in  a  Church  is  placed  by  the 
ruling  authorities  on  a  ground  that  they  can  not  occupy,  with- 
out an  abandonment  of  their  manhood  and  Christian  honor,  this 
thing  is  equal  to  their  expulsion.  This  was  clearly  done  in  the 
ease  of  the  old  Reformers. 

In  the  progress  of  the  controversy,  the  parties,  as  is  usual 
in  such  cases,  became  a  little  warm.  Old  Adam  showed  himself 
among  his  children  on  both  sides.  It  is  questionable  whether 
the  temper  and  doings  of  the  friends  or  foes  of  lay  delegation 
did  fully  comport  with  the  doctrine  of  entire  sanctification  as 
held  by  the  Methodists.  Still,  the  principle  remained  the  same, 
and  if  the  party  in  power  were  not  willing  at  that  time  to  grant 
lay  delegation,  they  ought,  in  all  fiiirness,  to  have  left  it  an 
open  question,  and  allowed  to  all  the  right  of  fi'ee  discussion 
in  relation  to  the  matter  at  issue.  But  this  thing  was  not  done. 
Some  time  in  1827,  the  whole  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  of  Meth- 
odism seemed  to  be  roused  into  action  against  reform  and  its 
friends.  Rev.  D.  B.  Dorsey,  a  member  of  the  Baltimore  Con- 
ference, was  suspended  by  that  body  from  all  ministerial  func- 
tions for  one  year,  because,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  he  had 
recommended  the  Reformer's  periodical,  called  "The  Mutual 
Rights."  At  the  next  session  of  said  Conference  Dorsey  was 
expelled,  because,  while  peddling  books  to  support  his  family,  he 
had  sold  Rev.  A.  McCaine's  "  History  and  Mystery  of  Methodist 
Episcopacy."  Bj  that  same  Conference  Rev.  W.  C.  Pool  was 
expelled  for  delivering  a  lecture  in  favor  of  lay  delegation.  All 
the  local  preachers  who  favored  reform  were  forbidden  the  oc- 
cupancy of  any  of  the  Methodist  pulpits  in  the  city  of  Balti- 
more. Finally,  about  eleven  of  them,  and,  I  think,  all  the 
members  of  the  Editorial  Committee,  because  they  declined  aban- 
doning the  "Mutual  Rights"  and  their  Union  Societies,  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  demand  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Hanson,  the  preacher  in  charge, 
were  likewise  excluded  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
These  were  all  men  of  sterling  integrity  and  great  moral  worth ; 


THE   METHODIST   PROTESTANT    CnURCH.  419 

SO  acknowledged  to  be  by  those  who  expelled  them.  Their  only 
crime  was,  in  fact,  a  great  moral  virtue.  They  loved  Christian 
liberty  too  well  to  abandon  it,  and  the  means  of  its  propaga- 
tion and  defense,  for  the  sake  of  retaining  their  standing  in  the 
Church.  Other  expulsions  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and 
elsewhere,  for  the  same  cause,  and  under  similar  circumstances, 
occurred  about  the  same  time.  Our  cause  had  to  encounter  the 
frowns  of  the  stanch  friends  and  supporters  of  Episcopal  Meth- 
odist authority  in  all  places;  for  the  daj^s  of  argument  with 
them  had  gone  by,  and  the  days  of  punishment  had  come. 
So  the  Reformers  understood  it,  and  expected  no  favors. 

Yet,  to  give  the  authorities  a  chance  to  do  justice,  if  they 
would,  Dorsey  and  Pool  sent  up  their  appeals  to  the  General 
Conference,  in  Pittsburgh,  in  1828.  The  cases  of  all  the  ex- 
pelled, in  some  shape  or  other,  were  brought  before  that  body, 
to  get  that  high  court  of  appeals,  if  possible,  to  take  some  ac- 
tion that  would  be  healing  in  its  character,  and  lead  to  a  resto- 
ration of  the  expelled  brethren.  All  of  them  had  a  desire  to 
retain  their  standing  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  if  such 
a  thing  could  be  done  in  accordance  with  Christian  honor.  But 
the  members  of  that  Conference  were  not  in  a  temper  of  mind 
to  favor  the  Reformers  in  any  way  whatever,  so  the  appellants 
lost  their  cause.  The  testimony  of  one  of  themselves,  liev. 
Jacob  Young,  who  used  to  preach  at  my  father's  house,  when 
I  was  in  my  boyhood,  may  here  be  given.  He  holds  the  fol- 
lowing language  in  his  autobiography,  page  387:  "The  great 
Radical  controversy,  as  they  called  it,  was  still  in  progress,  and 
it  was  the  opinion  of  the  most  intellectual  and  pious  members 
of  the  Conference  that  it  had  progressed  as  far  as  it  could 
within  the  pale  of  the  Church,  and  that  the  Reformers  must 
either  submit  to  discipline  or  retire  and  set  up  for  themselves." 
Such  "discipline"  as  had  been  exercised  upon  the  brethren  who 
had  been  expelled  they  were  not  prepared  to  "  submit  to,"  as, 
in  their  opinion,  it  was  wholly  unauthorized  by  the  laws  of  the 
Church.  As  for  "retiring  and  setting  up  for  themselves,"  they 
had  no  inclination  to  do  this,  if  it  could  be  avoided;  yet  they 
had  often  been  urged  to  this  by  their  opponents,  and  the  fol- 
lowing terms  offered  them  by  the  General  Conference  of  1828, 
and  found  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  "Mutual  Rights,"  page 
335,  will  show  that  these  American  Christians  had  either  to 
submit  to  degradation  or  exjiatriadon: 

"  Whereas,  an  unhappy  excitement  has  existed  in  some 
parts  of  our  work,  in  consequence  of  the  organization  of  what 
have  been  called  Union  Societies,  for  purposes  and  under  reg- 


420  ADDRESS  TO  THE   MINISTERS  AND  MEMBERS  OF 

ulations  believed  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  peace  and  harmony 
of  the  Church  ;  and  in  rehition  to  much  of  the  matter  contained 
'  in  a  certain  periodical  publication  called  '  Mutual  Rights,*  in  re- 
gard to  which  certain  expulsions  from  the  Church  have  taken 
place;  and,  whereas,  this  General  Conference  indulge  a  hope 
that  a  mutual  desire  may  exist  for  conciliation  and  peace,  and 
is  desirous  of  leaving  open  a  way  for  the  accomplishment  of 
so  desirable  an  object  on  safe  and  equitable  principles;  there- 
fore, 

'"'Resolved,  hy  the  delegates  of  the  Annual  Conferences,  in  Gen- 
eral Conference  assembled,  1.  That  in  view  of  the  premises,  and 
in  the  earnest  hope  that  this  measure  may  tend  to  promote  the 
object,  this  General  Conference  affectionately  advises  that  no 
further  proceedings  be  had  in  any  part  of  our  work,  against 
any  member  or  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
on  account  of  any  past  agency  or  concern  in  relation  to  the 
above-named  periodical,  or  in  relation  to  any  Union  Society 
above-mentioned.  2.  If  any  persons  expelled,  as  aforesaid,  feel 
free  to  concede  that  publications  have  appeared  in  said  '  Mutual 
Rights,'  the  nature  and  character  of  which  were  unjustifiably 
inflammatory  and  do  not  admit  of  vindication  ;  and  that  in  others, 
though  for  want  of  proper  information,  or  unintentionally,  have 
yet,  in  fact,  misrepresented  individuals  and  facts,  and  that  they 
regret  these  things.  If  it  be  voluntarily  agreed,  also,  that  the 
Union  Societies  above  alluded  to  shall  be  abolished,  and  the 
periodical  called  the  '  Mutual  Rights  '  be  discontinued  at  the 
close  of  the  current  volume,  which  shall  be  completed  with  due 
respect  to  the  conciliatory  and  pacificde  sign  of  this  arrangement, 
then  this  General  Conference  does  hereby  give  authority  for  the 
restoration  to  their  ministry  or  membership,  respectively,  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  any  person  or  persons  so  ex- 
pelled as  aforesaid;  provided,  this  arrangement  shall  be  mutually 
assented  to  by  any  individual  or  individuals  so  expelled,  and 
also  by  the  Quarterly-meeting  Conference,  and  the  minister  or 
preacher  having  the  charge  of  any  circuit  or  station  within 
which  any  expulsions  may  have  taken  place;  and  that  no  such 
minister  or  preacher  shall  be  obliged,  under  this  arrangement, 
to  restore  any  such  individual  as  leader  of  any  class  or  classes, 
unless,  in  his  own  discretion,  he  shall  judge  it  proper  to  do  so; 
and  pi'ovided,  also,  that  it  be  further  agreed  that  no  other 
periodical  publication  to  be  devoted  to  the  same  controversy 
shall  be  established  on  either  side;  it  being  expressly  under- 
stood, at  the  same  time,  that  this,  if  agreed  to,  will  be  on  the 
ground  not  of  any  assumption  of  right  to  require  this,  but  of 
mutual  consent  for  the  restoration  of  peace  \  and  that  no  indi- 


THE   METHODIST   PROTESTANT   CHURCH.  421 

vidua!  will  be  hereby  precluded  from  issuing  any  publication 
which  he  may  judge  projier  on  his  own  responsibility. 

"It  is  further  understood  that  any  individual  or  individuals,^ 
who  may  have  withdrawn  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
on  account  of  any  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  premises,  may 
also  be  restored  by  mutual  consent,  under  this  arrangement^  on 
the  same  principle  above  stated^ 

Here,  then,  are  the  terms  of  "  conciliation,  and  peace"  offered 
by  the  General  Conference  of  1828  to  the  expelled  Reformers 
and  their  associates  in  the  great  struggle  for  lay  delegation ;  and 
it  is  now  my  intention  to  analyze  this  document  with  calmness 
and  candor,  and  ascertain,  if  I  can,  all  its  attractino;  and  re- 
pelling forces.  Was  there  really  any  thing  in  the  terms  of  "con- 
ciliation and  peace,"  under  consideration,  to  win  back  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  fold  all  the  expelled  Reformers  and  their 
friends?     Let  me  carefully  examine  this  matter  and  see. 

1.  I  begin  with  the  very  structure  of  the  General  Conference, 
whence  this  document  emanated.  It  is  composed  exclusively  of 
itinerant  ministers.  No  layman  has  a  legal  right  to  a  seat,  or 
a  voice,  or  a  vote  in  that  body.  This  is  equally  true  of  the 
Annual  Conferences.  Yet  all  the  pecuniary  burdens  by  which 
the  institutions  of  the  Church  are  kept  up  fall  on  the  people. 
This  I  consider  as  repelling  in  its  character,  as  it  includes  the 
doctrine,  in  effect,  of  taxation  without  representation.  This 
General  Conference  had  ratified  the  decisions  of  the  Baltimore 
Conference  in  the  appealed  cases  of  Dorsey  and  Pool,  and  had 
thereby  made  the  arbitrary  acts  of  that  body  their  own.  It 
was  not,  therefore,  to  have  been  expected,  after  that  act  against 
men  guilty  of  no  moral  wrong,  that  they  would  offer  very  favor- 
able terms  of  "conciliation  and  peace"  to  the  expelled  Reform- 
ers and  their  friends. 

2.  The  act  of  "conciliation  and  peace"  passed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  in  relation  to  the  non-expelled  Reformers,  I 
consider  nothing  but  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  to  be  resumed 
again,  if  it  should  be  deemed  necessary,  by  the  ruling  authori- 
ties. The  Conference  "advises  [it  does  not  authoritatively 
direct]  that  no  further  proceedings  be  had  in  any  part  of 
our  work  against  any  member  or  minister  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  on  account  of  any  past  agency  or  concern  in 
relation  to  the  above-named  periodical,  [the  'Mutual  Rights,'] 
or  in  relation  to  any  Union  Societies  above-named."  The  Ed- 
itorial Committee  in  Baltimore,  all  of  them,  might  have  retained 
their  standing  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  the  time 
when  they  were  expelled  by  the  preacher  in  charge,  if  they  had 


422        ADDRESS    TO    THE    MINISTERS   AND   MEMBERS   OF 

agreed  to  give  up  the  "Mutual  Rights  "  and  the  Uuion  Societies. 
Now,  the  General  Conference  is  ready  to  overlook,  pass-by,  and 
''forgive  all  the  "past  agency  and  concern"  of  the  non-expelled 
Reformers,  etc.  Surely,  this  was  kind.  But  is  it  not  a  little 
marvelous  that  the  kindness  of  the  Conference  did  not  lead  that 
body  to  restore  the  expelled  Reformers?  And  since  their  kind- 
ness did  not  lead  them  to  do  this,  why  did  not  the  justice  of 
the  Conference  put  all  on  one  common  level,  and  expel  all  the 
Reformers,  for  all  had  done  the  same  thingsf  The  non-expelled 
Reformers  knew  very  well  that  the  words  "past  agency  or  con- 
cern "  implied  a  threat  in  relation  to  the  future,  and  that  if,  iu 
time  to  come,  they  took  any  "agency  or  concern"  in  sustaining 
the  "Mutual  Rights"  and  the  Union  Societies,  they  would  be 
made  to  follow  those  who  had  gone  before  into  ecclesiastical 
banishment.  These  non-expelled  friends  of  ecclesiastical  lib- 
erty knew  full  well  that  their  standing  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  now  depended  on  conditions  which,  in  conscience, 
they  could  not  comply  with.  To  abandon  their  right  to  a  free 
and  full  investigation  of  the  principles  of  Church  government; 
to  discontinue  their  periodical,  in  which  their  investigations  were 
carried  on,  and  to  abolish  the  Union  Societies,  in  order  to  meet 
the  wishes  of  arbitrary  men,  who  had  no  right  to  make  such 
a  demand,  and  all  this  for  the  sake  of  a  standing  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  was  a  degradation  to  which  the}'-  never 
could  submit.  Had  they  done  it,  they  would  have  abandoned 
their  mental  and  moral  manhood,  and  despised  themselves  for 
deserting  their  principles  to  the  end  of  life.  The  expulsions  in 
Cincinnati,  shortly  after  the  General  Conference,  clearly  demon- 
strated to  the  Reformers  what  their  fate  would  be  if  they  re- 
mained in  the  Church  and  did  not  abandon  the  Union  Societies 
and  the  "Mutual  Rights."  Degradation  or  expulsion  awaited 
them. 

3.  I  come  bow  to  the  expelled  Reformers.  Here  I  under- 
stand Revs.  D.  B.  Dorsey,  W.  C.  Pool,  the  editors  of  the  "Mu- 
tual Rights,"  and  the  members  of  the  Union  Societies  to  be 
mainly  meant.  These  expulsions  took  place  in  part  by  the 
Baltimore  Conference,  but  in  the  main  by  the  authorities  in 
one  of  the  Baltimore  stations.  The  circumstances  attending 
those  expulsions  were  considered  by  the  expelled,  and  by  the 
Reformers  every-where,  to  have  been  very  aggravating  and  un- 
fair. This  may  be  seen  by  the  resolutions  of  Quarterly  Con- 
ferences East,  West,  North,  and  South,  in  remonstrance  against 
those  most  unjustifiable  proceedings.  To  these  expelled  breth- 
ren, who  were  really  the  salt  of  the  earth,  if  the  earth  ever  had 
any  salt,  the  following  terms  of  "conciliation  and  peace"  are  ten- 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  423 

dored  by  the  Greueral  Conference:  (1.)  They  mvist  "feel  free  to 
concede  that  publications  have  appeared  in  the  '  Mutual  Rights,* 
the  nature  and  character  of  which  are  unjustifiably  inflamma- 
tory, and  do  not  admit  of  vindication."  (2.)  "That  others, 
though  for  want  of  information,  or  unintentionally,  have  yet,  in 
fact,  misrepresented  individuals  and  facts."  (3.)  "And  that 
they  regret  these  things."  (4.)  They  must  then  "voluntarily 
agree  that  the  Union  Societies  be  abolished;  (5.)  That  the 
periodical  called  the  'Mutual  Rights'  be  discontinued  at  the 
close  of  the  current  volume;  6.  And  that  no  other  periodical 
devoted  to  the  same  controversy  be  established."  When  all  this 
is  done,  what  then?  AVhy  "this  General  Conference  does  hereby 
give  authority  for  the  restoration  to  their  ministry  and  member- 
ship, respectively,  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  any 
person  or  persons  so  expelled  as  aforesaid."  Here  is  the 
authority  for  the  restoration  of  the  expelled,  but  through  what 
strait  and  narrow  way  is  this  return  to  their  former  standing  to 
be  effected?  Why,  through  the  medium  of  the  Quarterly  Con- 
ference and  the  hands  of  the  preacher  in  charge.  They  say, 
"Provided,  this  arrangement  shall  be  mutually  assented  to  by 
the  individual  or  individuals  so  expelled  and  by  the  Quarteidy 
Conference,  and  the  minister  or  preacher  having  the  charge  of 
any  circuit  or  station  within  which  any  such  expulsions  may  have 
taken  place."  Now,  in  view  of  the  foregoing  terms  of  "  concil- 
iation and  peace"  offered  to  the  expelled,  the  following  remarks 
may  be  in  place. 

1.  Honesty  and  candor  must  admit  that  in  this  controversy 
the  parties  became  a  little  warm — human  nature  showed  itself 
to  disadvantage  on  both  sides.  If  there  was  any  thing  "  un- 
justifiably inflammatory"  in  the  publications  of  the  Reformers, 
so  there  was  in  the  publications  of  their  opponents.  If  one  party 
deserved  to  be  expelled  for  "these  things,"  so  did  the  other. 
The  better  way  would  have  been  for  each  party  to  have  looked  at 
home,  corrected  its  own  errors,  cast  the  beam  out  of  its  own  eye 
before  any  attempt  was  made  to  pick  motes  out  of  a  brother's 
eye,  or  expel  him  from  the  Church.  The  expulsions,  in  my 
opinion,  were  in  such  a  ease  unjusfifiahl^,  and  did  no  honor  to 
the  Christian  religion.  Had  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
then  been  in  the  same  temper  she  is  in  now  those  expulsions 
would  not  have  taken  place,  and  the  discussions  might  have  been 
carried  on  with  advantage  to  the  Church,  many  of  whose  minis- 
ters and  members  now  favor  lay  delegation. 

2.  But  to  require  the  expelled  Reformers  to  "abolish  the 
Union  Societies,"  to  "discontinue  the  'Mutual  Rights,'"  and  to 
promise  ''  that  no  other  periodical  devoted  to  the  same  centre- 


424         ADDRESS  TO  THE  MINISTERS  AND  MExMBERS  OF 

versy  sliould  be  established,"  in  order  to  a  restoration  to  their 
former  standing,  was  to  ask  too  much  of  American  Cliristians ; 
and  it  often  happens  that  when  mea  ask  too  much  they  get 
nothing  at  all.  These  intelligent,  pious  brethren  had  in  them 
too  high  a  sense  of  Christian  honor  to  do  a  thing  so  degrading 
as  to  voluntarily  purchase  back  their  lost  standing  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  by  the  sale  of  their  right  to  free  investi- 
gation in  the  "  Mutual  Rights,"  sustained  by  the  Union  Societies. 
In  this  thing  all  the  expelled  and  non-expelled  were  of  one 
mind,  with  a  very  few  exceptions.  As  in  the  days  of  Christ, 
some  "went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  him,"  so  we  found 
it  in  those  days. 

3.  But  let  us  suppose  the  expelled  Reformers  in  Baltimore, 
from  a  disinclination  to  stand  alone  in  the  world,  or  oi'ganize  a 
new  Methodist  Church,  or  scatter  themselves  out  among  other 
Churches,  or,  from  the  uncomfortable  circumstances  surrounding 
them,  to  have,  in  the  deeply-discouraged  and  panic-stricken 
feelings  of  their  hearts,  concluded  to  abandon  their  undoubted 
rights,  denude  themselves  of  the  sturdy  manhood  belonging  to 
American  citizens  and  Christians,  and  to  have  come  down  into 
the  dust,  in  deep  humility,  before  the  Baltimore  Quarterly  Con- 
ference. What  are  they  to  say  for  themselves?  Why,  this: 
We  voluntarily  agree  to  abolish  the  "Mutual  Bights",  to  aban- 
don the  Union  Societies,  and  to  establish  no  other  paper,  in  all 
time  to  come,  "devoted  to  the  same  controversy,"  and  con- 
fess our  "regret"  for  many  things  that  have  been  published. 
Would  the  Quarterly  Conference,  a  body  known  to  be  hostile 
to  them,  and  the  enemies  of  the  cause  they  advocated,  restore 
them  to  their  former  standing?  Would  that  body  do  it  with 
that  same  Presiding  Elder  in  the  chair  who  took  such  pains  to 
have  them  expelled?  It  may  be  they  would.  And  it  is  pos- 
Bible  they  might  not;  and  if  not,  their  deep  degradation  has 
availed  them  nothing.  But  suppose  they  are  restored  by  the 
Quarterly  Conference,  what  thea?  Why,  they  must  go  through 
the  hands  of  the  preacher  in  charge.  And  who  is  -he?  Why, 
the  very  man  who,  without  justice  or  mercy,  expelled  them. 
What  chance  have  they  with  him?  Very  little,  indeed.  If  he 
rejects  them,  they  are  left  out  in  the  cold,  the  scorn  of  man- 
kind; if  he  receives  and  restores  them,  like  Judas,  they  must 
meet  the  contempt  of  all  men  of  integrity  as  long  as  they  live 
for  the  sake  of  a  home  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Now,  I  ask  my  Methodist  Protestant  brethren  every-where,  I 
ask  all  candid  men  in  all  the  Churches  and  in  all  the  land,  if 
such  terms  of  "conciliation  and  peace"  as  were  offered  by  the 
General  Conference  of  182S  to  the  expelled  Reformers  were  not 


THE    METUODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  425 

degrading?  Did  not  those  brethren  do  right,  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  man,  when  these  terras  were  rejected  by  them? 

But  we  must  look  a  little  further  into  the  terms  of  "concilia- 
tion and  peace."  In  various  parts  of  our  country,  there  were 
Reformers  whose  minds  and  hearts  had  been  sorely  pained  at 
the  expulsion  of  their  near  and  dear  relations  and  friends  by 
the  Church  authorities.  In  Baltimore  alone  there  were  about 
fifty  excellent  Christian  ladies  who  withdrew,  because,  "  for  a 
mere  difference  of  opinion  about  Church  government,  their  com- 
panions, fathers,  brothers,  children,  and  friends"  had  been  ex- 
communicated from  the  Church.  All  these  Christian  ladies 
obtained  certificates  of  their  good  standing  from  llcv.  J.  M. 
Hanson,  the  preacher  in  charge.  This  was,  at  least,  one  act  of 
justice  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Hanson.  But  the  General  Confer- 
ence, in  "offering  terms  of  "conciliation  and  peace,"  can  only 
allow  to  members  withdrawn  the  same  terms  granted  to  mem- 
bers expelled.  Thus  all  moral  distinctions  are  broken  down,  and 
the  innocent  and  the  guilty  (if  guilt  there  was  in  this  case)  are 
all  treated  alike.  These  good  sisters,  if  they  desired  to  return 
to  the  Church,  were  not  allowed  simply  to  return  their  certifi- 
cates and  claim  their  places,  but  their  restoration  is  ordained 
by  the  General  Conference  to  be  "under"  the  same  "■arrange- 
ment,^^ and  on  '■'■the  sa/me  principles  above  stated,"  that  were 
offered  to  the  expelled.  They  withdrew  with  acknowledged  inno- 
cence ;  they  are  to  come  back  as  criminals,  abandoning  their  cause 
entirely — "Mutual  Rights,"  Union  Societies,  and  all.  Then, 
upon  a  due  confession  of  their  "regrets,"  they  might,  like  the 
expelled,  pass,  through  the  hands  of  the  Quarterly  Conference 
and  the  preacher  in  charge,  into  the  Church — restored,  indeed, 
but  never  to  respect  themselves  any  more.  Now,  taking  all 
these  three  cases  together — the  non -expelled,  the  expelled,  and 
the  withdrawn — could  the  General  Conference,  in  offering  such 
degrading  terms  to  us  all,  expect  "submission"  to  this  kind  of 
"discipline?"  Did  they  not,  in  order  to  get  clear  of  the  con- 
troversy, intend  to  compel  the  Reformers,  whose  cause,  in  their 
opinion,  to  use  the  language  of  the  Rev.  Jacob  Young,  had 
"  progressed  as  far  as  it  could  within  the  pale  of  the  Church, 
to  retire  and  set  up  for  fhemsehesf" 

It  was  not  because  there  was  not  a  majority  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  that  time  in  favor  of  lay  delegation,  nor 
because  all  our  measures  brought  before  the  General  Conference 
failed,  that  we  did  "retire  and  set  up  for  ourselves;"  but  be- 
cause the  right  of  free  discussion  in  the  "Mutual  Rights,"  sus- 
tained by  the  Union  Societies,  was  now  cloven  down  by  an 
irresponsible  General  Conference.     Our   friends    had   been  ex- 

27 


426         ADDRESS  TO  THE   MINISTERS  A\D  MEMBERS  OF 

pelled,  the  standing  of  all  the  Reformers  put  to  hazard,  and 
the  way  foreclosed,  so  that  neither  the  expelled  nor  the  with- 
drawn could  honorably  return;  nor  could  the  non-expelled,  on 
principles  of  Christian  honor,  any  longer  remain  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Here,  then,  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church 
finds  her  justification,  in  the  doings  of  the  General  Conference 
of  182S,  for  her  separate  and  independent  existence  as  a  Chris- 
tian community  among  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  our  country. 

The  Methodist  Protestant  Church  came  into  being  contrary 
to  the  wishes  or  expectations  of  the  old  Reformers,  who  were  all 
true  friends  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  yet  wanted 
her  government  reformed.  Over  this  matter  of  going  out  from 
the  old  Church  they  had  hardly  any  more  control  than  a  man 
has  over  his  parentage,  or  the  time  and  place  of  his  birth.  Our 
Church  exists  by  the  providence  of  God  overruling  the  doings 
of  good  but  mistaken  men.  They  meant  to  kill  the  cause  of 
Christian  liberty;  but  God  meant  to  embody  the  friends  of  re- 
form, and  demonstrate  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and 
to  the  world  that  ecclesiastical  freedom  was  a  good  thing,  and 
that  the  Methodistical  views  of  Scriptural  Christianity  could  be 
spread  among  mankind  by  an  itinerant  ministry  and  a  lay  dele- 
gation working  in  perfect  harmony  together  in  all  our  official 
bodies. 

It  may  be  admitted,  from  the  structure  of  the  government 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  that  the  old  Reformers  had 
justifiable  reasons  for  introducing  the  lay  delegation  question 
and  discussing  it  in  the  "Mutual  Rights,"  sustained  by  the 
Union  Societies.  It  may  be  admitted,  also,  that  the  existence 
of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  under  the  circumstances 
connected  with  her  origin,  is  fully  justified.  But  still,  it  may 
be  affirmed  by  some  that  the  two  Churches  are  so  much  alike 
that  nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  a  change  of  Church  relations, 
and  that  it  would  be  a  dictate  of  sound  practical  common  sense 
in  all  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  to  return  immediately  to  the  Methodist.  Episcopal 
Church  again.  Now  if  this  be  so — if  the  two  Churches  are  so 
much  alike — why  go  to  them?  Why  may  not  they  come  to  us? 
seeing  it  is  just  as  far  from  Cork  to  Dublin  as  it  is  from  Dub- 
lin to  Cork.  Let  an  examination  now  be  made  into  the  similarity 
of  the  two  Churches;  and  here  we  gladly  admit  that  they  are 
alike  in  their  views  of  Christian  doctrine,  in  their  views  of 
religious  experience,  and  in  their  views  of  Gospel  morality.  la 
all  these  things  Methodism  is  the  same  all  over  the  world. 
They  are  alike,  too,  in  the  names  of  all  their  official  bodies. 
Have  they   Quarterly,  Annual,  and   General   Conferences?     So 


THE   METHODIST    PROTESTANT   CHURCH.  427 

have  we.  Have  they  circuits,  stations,  and  missions?  So  have 
we.  Have  they  love-feasts,  class-meetings,  and  leaders'  meet- 
ings?    So  have  we. 

Now,  let  me  call  the  reader  back  to  an  examination  after  the 
rights  of  laity  in  these  two  Churches.  Go  to  the  General  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  there  you  will 
find  a  body  of  ministers,  representing  none  but  ministers,  and 
no  layman's  voice  can  legally  be  heard  among  them  ;  yet  this 
body  is  the  law-making  department  for  the  entire  Church,  as 
well  laymen  as  ministers.  Go  to  the  General  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  and  there  you  will  find  a 
body  of  ministers  and  an  equal  number  of  lay  representatives, 
all  elected  to  their  seats  in  that  assembly  by  the  entire  Church 
in  the  electoral  colleges  of  the  Conferences,  composed  of  min- 
isters and  laymen.  In  this  assembly,  Representing  the  entire 
community,  the  laws  of  the  Church  are  made.  Go  to  the  An- 
nual Conferences  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  there 
you  will  find  an  executive  body,  composed  of  itinerant  minis- 
ters only,  to  transact  all  the  business  of  the  Churches  in  all 
the  districts,  circuits,  stations,  and  missions  of  the  Conferences. 
Go  to  the  Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  and  there  you  will  find  all  the  itinerant  ministers  of 
the  district,  and  an  equal  number  of  lay  delegates  from  all  the 
circuits,  stations,  and  missions,  transacting  business  together. 
Go  to  an  Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  there  you  will  find  a  Bishop,  advised  by  his  Presiding  El- 
ders, appointing  all  the  ministers  and  preachers  to  their  work 
in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  for  the  coming  year;  and  no  min- 
ister or  preacher  so  appointed  has  the  right  of  appeal,  nor  have 
the  people  any  legal  redress  if  the  appointed  preacher  does 
not  suit  them.  Go  to  an  Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church,  and  there  you  will  find  a  stationing  commit- 
tee, elected  by  the  ministers  and  delegates  of  the  entire  district, 
making  out  the  appointments  for  the  ensuing  year.  On  this 
committee  there  are  two  ministers  and  two  laymen  chosen. 
The  President  of  the  Conference  is,  in  virtue  of  his  office, 
chairman  of  the  committee,  and  has  a  casting  vote  in  case  of  tie. 
When  the  committee  has  done  its  work,  and  reports  a  plan  of 
appointments  to  the  Conference,  that  plan  is  then  the  property 
of  the  Conference,  and  may  be  amended  to  suit  either  ministers 
or  delegates.  But  when  it  is  adopted  by  the  Conference,  it  is 
final,  and  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  work  of  the  entire  brotherhood 
of  ministers  and  Churches,  acting  through  their  delegates  in 
appointing  the  preachers  to  their  fields  of  labor.  Episcopal 
Methodism  says  much  of  a  great  central  power   in   the   hands 


428        ADDRESS    TO    THE    MINISTERS    AND    MEMBERS    OF 

of  their  Bishops,  to  ■wield  all  the  itinerant  talents  of  the  Churcli 
iu  the  use  of  his  appointing  power.  But  in  Methodist  Prot- 
estantism this  appointing  power  is  not  lodged  in  the  hands  of 
one  man;  it  belongs  to  the  whole  Church,  including  ministers 
and  members.  Here  is  liberty  and  strength  combined.  When 
this  whole  nation,  through  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
commands  a  citizen  to  perform  a  certain  duty,  is  he  not  as  much 
obliged  to  do  the  thing  commanded  as  if  he  had  been  com- 
manded by  a  monarch  who  derived  none  of  his  power  from  the 
people?  Just  so  it  is  with  us.  When  a  whole  people,  through 
an  Annual  Conference,  appoints  a  preacher  to  a  charge  with  his 
own  consent  and  that  of  the  people  to  whom  he  is  sent,  he  is 
as  much  obliged  to  go  and  do  the  duties  assigned  him  as  if  he 
had  been  appointed  by  a  Bishop  who  derived  none  of  his  power 
from  the  people?  Huftian  nature  requires  a  strong  government, 
as  strong  as  it  can  be  made  consistently  with  human  liberty. 
Our  people  have  liberty ;  our  Church  government  has  power. 

It  may  not  be  necessary  to  extend  this  examination  any  fur- 
ther. In  the  Quarterly  Conferences,  leaders'  meetings,  and  in 
Church  property  matters  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  has 
greatly  the  advantage — the  rights  of  the  community  are  better 
secured.  Our  Church  is  now  a  well-organized  body  of  Chris- 
tians. Our  people  are,  as  a  general  thing,  contented  and 
happy  under  our  present  economy,  and  it  would  not  "  be  a  dic- 
tate of  sound  practical  common  sense"  for  us  all  to  return  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  To  abandon  lay  delegation 
and  the  liberty  of  the  local  Churches,  and  place  our  ministers 
and  members  under  the  government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  where  the  itinerants  alone  have  control,  and  where  the 
voice  of  the  laity,  in  an  Annual  or  General  Conference,  could  never 
be  heard,  and  where  it  could  only  be  heard  in  the  management 
of  affairs  in  the  local  Churches,  so  far  as  they  were  brought 
into  action  by  the  intinerant  preachers,  would  never  satisfy  our 
people.  On  the  contrary,  much  would  be  gained,  ecclesias- 
tically, by  the  members  of  the  old  Church,  were  they  to  unite 
with  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church.  1.  They  would  gain 
their  rights,  for  they  have  rights  in  the  government  of  the 
Church  as  well  as  the  State.  2.  They  would  get  clear  of  a 
very  troublesome  contradiction  in  their  principles.  To  be  a 
republican  in  the  State  and  a  monarchist  in  the  Church  does 
involve  a  contradiction.  3.  It  would  open  the  way  to  en- 
larged usefulness.  In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  there 
are  many  men  of  prime  qualifications  for  usefulness,  in  the 
General  and  Annual  Couierence  and  elsewhere,  if  they  were 
only   brought  into    active   service.     4.  It   would   improve    the 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  429 

intelligence  of  Churcli  members,  ia  relation  to  the  entire 
economy  of  Methodism — a  thing  that  can  hardly  be  expected, 
unless  a  full  share  is  given  them  in  the  government  of  the 
Church.  5.  All  of  this  would  lead  to  a  more  ardent  attach- 
ment to  the  Church,  thus  governed,  according  to  the  principles 
of  enlightened  freedom,  and  a  higher  love  to  Christ,  who  es- 
tablished the  Church,  in  view  of  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

Luther,  in  his  day,  did  not  reform  the  Church  of  Rome ; 
but  he  did,  under  God,  raise  up  a  very  respectable  and  influ- 
ential Christian  community,  by  which  he  gave  a  check  to  the 
Pope's  power,  from  which  it  never  has  recovered.  He  also 
planted  principles  in  that  establishment,  which  have,  like  leaven, 
been  working  ever  since  his  time,  and  will  work  until  Roman- 
ism falls  to  rise  no  more.  Wesley,  in  his  day,  did  not  reform 
the  Church  of  England;  but,  under  God,  he  did  raise  up  a 
community  of  Methodists,  who,  for  piety  and  intelligence,  are 
the  "light"  and  "salt"  of  that  island,  and  by  them  a  leaven- 
ing Christian  influence  has  been  sent  into  the  English  Church, 
among  the  Dissenters,  and  into  many  other  parts  of  the  world. 
The  old  Reformers  did  not  reform  the  government  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  but  when  compelled  by  necessity,  they 
did  frame  an  ecclesiastical  economy,  securing  the  "  mutual 
rights  "  of  both  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church.  In  this  denomination  there  are  hundreds 
of  intelligent,  pious  ministers,  and  many  thousands  of  valuable, 
devoted  members,  and  it  is  believed  that,  to  some  extent,  Meth- 
odist Protestant  influence  has  been  felt  by  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church;  for  in  that  community  there  appears  to  be  a 
growing  desire  to  adopt  our  principles,  and  introduce  a  lay  del- 
egation. 

It  may  be  that  influences  from  several  quarters  have  ope- 
rated on  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  so  as  to  lead  a  large 
portion  of  her  clergy  and  laity  to  desire  a  lay  delegation.  Her 
own  cool  reflections,  since  the  old  Reform  controvei'sy  closed, 
may  have  led  her  to  the  conclusion  that,  after  all,  the  Re- 
formers were  right  in  principle,  and  that  she  herself  ought  to 
adopt  those  principles.  The  odium  of  being  drawn  into  com- 
parison with  the  Church  of  Rome,  whose  clergy  have  all  the 
power  in  her  government  and  her  people  none,  may  have  had 
its  influence ;  or  the  shame  of  making  her  members  bear  all 
the  pecuniary  burdens  of  the  entire  establishment,  without 
granting  them  a  share  in  the  government,  may  have  moved 
them  in  this  matter ;'  or  the  inconvenience  of  having  two  sets 
of  principles — republicanism  for  the  civil  department,  and  mon- 
archical for  the  ecclesiastical — may  have  influenced  them;  or  a 


430        ADDRESS    TO    THE    MINISTERS    AND    MEMBERS    OF 

conviction  that  she  had  not  been  compelled  by  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, nor  led  by  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Wesley,  nor  guided 
by  Church  history  to  ignore  the  rights  of  the  laity,  may  have 
done  something  in  this  case;  or,  having  seen  from  our  example, 
right  under  her  eye  for  the  last  thirty-six  years,  that  an  itin- 
erant ministry  and  a  lay  delegation  can,  with  great  advantage, 
work  together;  or  all  of  these  taken  together,  may  have  moved 
her;  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  some  extent,  now 
desires  a  lay  delegation.  And  why  should  she  not?  If  she  were 
to  delay  any  longer  in  this  matter,  the  very  stones  would  cry 
out.  At  the  present  time  this  whole  nation,  as  in  an  agony, 
is  moving  to  the  task  of  giving  voting-power  to  the  colored 
freedmen  of  the  South.  Certainly  it  is  now  high  time  for  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  grant  the  right  of  suft'rage  and 
a  lay  delegation  to  her  own  white  members.  As  an  island  di- 
vides a  river,  so  did  the  Reform  controversy  divide  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  into  two  bodies;  as  the  two  streams 
below  the  island  come  together  and  make  but  one  river,  so  I 
trust  that  the  old  Church  will  adopt  lay  delegation  ;  then  these 
two  Churches,  like  the  two  rivers,  may  come  together  again. 
Indeed,  it  would  give  me  pleasure  to  see  all  the  branches  of 
Methodists,  episcopal  and  non-episcopal,  united  in  one  body, 
sustaining  and  spreading  Scriptural  Christianity  and  ecclesias- 
tical liberty  throughout  the  world;  for  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  my  judgment,  ovight  to  be  the  home  and  nursery  of 
every  kind  of  freedom  properly  belonging  to  man.  I  would 
like  to  see  the  great  Methodist  family,  with  all  her  divisions 
healed,  and  all  her  scattered  fragments  gathered  up  into  one 
unbroken  whole,  like  a  broad  majestic  river,  going  down 
through  the  millennium  a  great  agency  in  the  hands  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  bless  and  save  our  race. 

In  what  I  have  now  written,  it  has  not  been  my  object  to 
give  pain  to  any  portion  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church; 
but  it  has  been  my  intention  and  aim  to  state  the  facts  of  the 
case  as  I  understand  them ;  to  show  that  in  the  structure  of 
the  government  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  such  a 
country  as  ours,  occasion  was  given  for  the  controversy  which 
resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church; 
to  show  that  the  circumstances  under  which  the  Reformers  were 
placed  by  the  General  Conference  of  1823  were  equal  to  their 
expulsion,  and  that,  therefore,  our  Church  exists  by  a  necessity 
over  which  she  had  no  control;  and,  finally,  to  show  that 
there  is  a  strongly  marked  diiference  in  the  ecclesiastical  econ- 
omy of  the  two  Churches — a  difference  more  strongly  marked 
than  is  that  between  the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and  tks 


THE  METHODIST  PROTESTANT  CHURCH.       431 

United  States — so  tluit  a  liberty-loving  people,  understanding 
this  difference,  may  well  be  contented  and  happy,  holding  Church 
relations  in  our  community.  Here  all  the  essentials  of  Meth- 
odism are  found;  here  an  itinerant  ministry,  in  all  its  effi- 
ciency, and  the  liberty  of  the  local  Churches,  to  every  needful 
extent,  are  happily  combined.  A  larger  liberty  of  the  local 
Churches  could  not  be  enjoyed,  unless  we  were  to  become  Con- 
gregational, in  the  absolute  sense  of  the  word,  and  then  we 
should  lose  all  the  advantages  derived  from  an  itinerant  min- 
istry.    To  this  our  community  would  never  consent. 

After  the  foregoing  notice  of  the  old  controversy,  and  a 
brief  vindication  of  our  Church  existence,  I  shall  now  turn  the 
attention  of  the  reader  to  other  matters  relating  to  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church,  as  she  stands  related  to  other  Churches, 
to  our  country,  and  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  onlj^  living 
Head  of  the  Church  universal. 

I  shall  begin  with  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  yet 
some  of  my  remarks  may  be  applicable  to  other  Churches.  I 
hold  it  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  Saviour  of  sinners  to 
maintain  a  standing  Christian  ministry  among  men  down  to 
the  end  of  time.  He  did  not  leave  his  religion  to  make  its 
way  in  the  world  by  the  force  of  its  own  internal  energy, 
without  the  employment  of  human  instrumentalities.  He  did 
intend  to  help  man  by  man.  Hence  a  Gospel  ministry  was 
instituted  by  Christ  to  convey  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to 
all  mankind.  My  faith,  and  hope,  and  charity  lead  me  to  give 
it  as  my  solemn  judgment  that  all  the  good,  great,  and  useful 
men  did  not  live  in  some  former  age  of  the  world;  but  that 
there  are  at  the  present  time  in  the  Churches  as  pious  minis- 
ters— men  as  really  called  of  Christ  to  the  work  of  the  ministry — 
as  were  the  original  missionaries  whom  Christ  commissioned  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  all  the  world,  to  every  creature.  Yet  it 
must  be  admitted  that  the  founders  of  Christianity,  immedi- 
ately appointed  by  Christ  himself  to  that  great  work,  occupied 
the  vantage  ground  over  all  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  in  after 
ages  of  the  world,  in  four  very  important  particulars. 

In  the  first  place,  they  had  seen  Christ,  and  had  been  trained 
for  their  holy  work  under  his  personal  ministry.  What  better 
college  could  they  have  than  this?  Secondly,  they  had  been 
eye  and  ear-witnesses  of  his  miracles  and  teaching,  and  in  their 
own  preaching  could  "declai'e"  unto  the  people  "the  things 
which  they  had  seen  and  heard"  from  the  Saviour  himself. 
No  ministers  in  after  ages  could  do  this.  Thirdly,  they  were 
empowered  by  Christ  to  gain  credence  to  his  religion  by  work- 
ing miracles  in  his  name,  in  all  places,  wherever  they  delivered 


432       ADDRESS   TO    THE    MINISTERS   AND   MEMBERS   OF 

their  Gospel  message.  None  of  tlieir  successors  could  do  this. 
Fourthly,  by  the  laying  on  of  their  hands  and  prayer,  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  power  to  work  miracles  was  given,  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  to  those  who  believed  on  the  Saviour.  In  all  these 
things  they  had  no  successors.  The  age  of  miracleg  then  ended. 
Christianity  being  established  by  competent  testimony  from 
heaven,  signs,  wonders,  and  divers  miracles  were  no  longer 
needed.  The  truth  once  established  remained  like  a  fact  proved 
in  court,  established  forever.  If  miracles  had  been  continued, 
they  would  have  come  at  last  to  be  considered  no  miracles  at 
all,  and  men  would  have  ranked  them  under  the  ordinary  op- 
erations of  the  laws  of  nature. 

Those  who  proudly  claim  to  be  in  what  is  called  the  Apos- 
tolical succession,  and  deny  the  authority  of  all  ministers  not 
ordained  by  their  Bishops  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  administer 
the  sacraments,  have,  as  a  general  thing,  made  their  claim  to 
rest  on  ordination  alone,  and  not  on  an  ability  to  work  mira- 
cles in  the  name  of  Christ  themselves,  or,  by  the  imposition  of 
their  hands  and  prayer,  to  impart  miracle-working  power  to 
believers.  But  can  an  unbroken  succession  of  Bishops,  from 
St.  Peter  down  through  the  anti-Christian  Popes  of  llome  to 
the  present  time,  be  sustained  by  unimpeachable  Church  history? 
Our  most  learned  and  reliable  divines  and  historians  think  it  can 
not,  and  if  it  could  the  thing  itself  would  be  shameful.  An  Apos- 
tolical succession  that  comes  through  the  hands  of  "  the  man 
of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition,"  the  head  of  the  great  apostasy 
of  the  last  times,  looks  to  me  more  like  it  came  from  Judas 
than  Peter.  Such  a  succession,  in  my  judgment,  is  a  figment 
of  Popery  still  remaining,  and  is  not  an  honor  but  a  burning 
disgrace  to  any  Protestant  Church. 

I  have  full  faith  in  an  apostolical  succession  of  a  different 
kind  from  the  foregoing.  In  my  judgment,  the  hands  of  a 
Bishop  laid  on  the  head  of  an  irreligious  dunce  never  made  of 
that  man  a  true  Gospel  minister,  and  never  can.  Where  men 
are  truly  converted  to  God,  and  drawn  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry,  and  are  filled  with  a  burn- 
ing desire  to  be  instrumental  in  saving  souls,  whether  these 
men  have  five,  two,  or  one  talent  it  matters  not.  Christ  calls 
for  various  talents  in  his  vineyard;  he  can  use  them  all,  each 
in  his  proper  place.  When  these  men  have  the  sanction  of  a 
spiritually-minded  Church,  and  are  ordained  by  elders,  these 
men  are  in  the  true  Gospel  succession  as  it  came  down,  not 
from  Judas,  but  from  Peter,  and  he  received  it  from  Jesus 
Christ.  Peter  was  an  Apostle  by  office,  but  an  elder,  as  I 
suppose,  by  ordination.     Hear  what  he  says  of  himself:  "  The 


THE   METHODIST   PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  433 

elders  wliicti  are  among  you  I  exhort,  who  am  also  an  elder, 
^Rum  preshuteros^  a  fellow-elder,]  and  a  witness  of  the  sufierinas 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  also  a  partaker  of  the  glory  that  shall  be 
revealed."  The  elders  addressed  by  Peter  were  the  pastors  or 
shepherds  of  the  flock;  and  in  the  next  verse  he  directed  them, 
in  his  exhortation,  to  "feed  the  flock  of  God" — taking  the  over- 
sight, {(•piscopountes^)  discharging  the  ofiice  of  bishops  or  su- 
perintendents. In  the  first  verse  he  calls  them  elders,  in  the 
second  he  calls  them  bishops;  so,  according  to  Peter,  elders  and 
bishops  were  the  same  in  his  day.  Now,  while  we  deny  the 
false  notion  of  apostolical  succession,  and  believe  in  no  such 
absurdity,  we  hold,  in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  that 
our  ministry  is  on  the  New  Testament  plan,  and  that  our 
Churches,  raised  up  under  such  a  ministry,  in  which  elders  and 
bishops  are  one  and  the  same  order,  and  among  whom  the 
pure  doctrines,  experience,  and  practice  of  Scriptual  Christi- 
anity are  preached  and  enforced,  is,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the 
word,  an  Apostolical  Chujch. 

When  Christ  ascended  to  heaven,  "He  gave  some,  apostles; 
and  some,  prophets;  and  some,  evangelists;  and  some,  pastors 
and  teachers;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ:  till  we  all 
come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  and  stature 
of  the  fullne.ss  of  Christ."— ^^j/i.  iv:  11-13. 

It  may  be  proper  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  this  passage. 
And,  in  the  first  place,  apostles  working  miracles,  and  prophets 
foretelling  future  events,  are  not  now  to  be  found  in  the  Church. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  legitimately  concluded  that  these  two  or- 
ders of  ministers  are  not  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  Christ's 
mystical  body.  But  as  prophets  in  the  New  Testament  often 
mean  Christian  preachers,  as  such  they  still  exist,  and  will  to 
the  end  of  time. 

But,  secondly,  as  to  evangelists,  I  think  they  still  exist  in 
the  Church.  An  angel  from  heaven  was  the  first  evangelist. 
"Fear  not,"  said  the  angel  to  the  shepherds,  "for  behold  I 
bring  [or,  as  it  is  in  the  Greek,  evangelize,]  unto  you  good 
tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.  For  unto 
you  is  born  this  day,  in  the  city  of  David,  a  Saviour,  which  is 
Christ  the  Lord."  There  were  in  the  primitive  Church  men 
who  were  not  particularly  fixed  to  any  one  place,  but,  like  gen- 
eral missionaries,  went  wherever  the  providence  of  God  opened 
their  way,  proclaiming  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation.  It  has 
been  claimed  for  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
that  they  are  evangelists ;  but  this  can  not  be  allowed,  as  they 


434         ADDRESS   TO   THE  JVIINISTEP.S  AND  MEMBERS  OF 

are  men  of  regular  work.  Those  ministers  wlio  travel  from 
place  to  place,  to  promote  revivals  and  raise  up  Churches  in  new 
places,  are  evangelists.  Such  was  Philip.  Acts  xxi:  8.  Tim- 
othy also  was  exhorted  "  to  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist."  2 
Tim.  iv:  5.  No  doubt  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  this  kind 
of  general  missionary  labor. 

But,  thirdly,  there  were  "  pastors  and  teachers."  These  two 
offices  were  concentrated  in  the  same  persons.  The  pastors,  or 
shepherds,  were  commissioned  to  watch  over  the  flocks,  and 
guard  them  from  the  wolves;  as  teachers,  they  were  to  instruct 
the  flock  of  Christ  in  all  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  The  teacher  or  preacher  of  Christ's  Gospel  is,  by  virtue 
of  his  ofiice,  the  pastor  or  Shepherd  of  the  flock  immediately 
under  Christ,  the  great  shepherd ;  and  St.  Peter  very  clearly 
defines  his  duty.  1.  He  is  to  feed  the  flock  of  God.  2.  He 
is  to  take  the  oversight  of  them,  not  by  constraint,  but  willingly 
and  of  a  ready  mind.  3.  He  is  not  to  be  moved  in  any  thing 
he  does  for  the  flock  of  Christ  by  a  love  of  "filthy  lucre." 
4.  He  is  not  to  be  a  lord  over  God's  heritage,  for  Christ  has 
forbidden  that  thing.  5.  In  every  sense  of  the  word,  he  is  to 
be  an  "ensample" — a  pattern  of  all  the  Christian  graces  and 
virtues  to  the  flock  committed  to  his  charge.  6.  He  is  to  look 
for  his  reward  at  the  appearing  of  Christ:  "And  when  the  Chief 
Shepherd  shall  appear,  ye  shall  receive  a  crown  of  glory  that 
fadeth  not  away."  But,  according  to  St.  Paul,  this  pastor  and 
teacher  holds  his  office  from  Christ,  "for  the  perfecting  of  the 
saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the 
body  of  Christ:  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  to  a  perfect  man,  unto 
the  measure  and  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ." 

Here,  then,  we  see  the  true  character  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
Here  we  see  their  great  work,  and  here,  too,  we  see  their  great 
reward — a  crown  of  glory  in  heaven.  Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things?  He  alone  in  whom  the  spirit  of  Christ  dwells. 
When  Christ  "ascended  up  on  high,"  he  not  only  gave  apostles 
and  prophets,  then  needed  to  found  and  establish  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  but  he  gave  the  "evangelists,"  to  go  out  and  pub- 
lish the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel  in  new  regions  and  organize 
Churches;  and  he  likewise  gave  the  "pastors  and  teachers,"  to 
take  care  of  the  flock  when  it  was  gathered  into  the  fold  of 
the  Good  Shepherd.  In  all  the  evangelical  (churches  these 
pastors  a,nd  teachers  are  found  to-day.  The  great  body  of  the 
ministers  in  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  are  of  this  evan- 
gelical stamp.  A  good  minister,  a  faithful  pastor,  is  a  most 
invaluable   gift   of  Christ   to   the   Church;    but   an   unfaithful 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  435 

drone,  who  only  lives  to  consume  the  produce  of  the  soil,  or  a 
money-hungry  Judas,  who  would  throw  up  his  interest  in  time 
and  eternity  for  worldly  gain,  is  a  direful  calamity  on  any 
Christian  community.  All  the  Churches  have  a  few  of  these 
wolves  in  sheep's  clothing — these  selfish,  earthly-minded  men. 

St.  Paul,  in  ilomaus  x  :  13-15,  places  the  call  to  the  ministry 
in  a  very  strong  light:  "For  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name 
of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved."  Salvation  comes  to  the  human 
soul  by  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Standing  there  in 
the  midst  of  the  Gentile  world,  the  Apostle  asks,  "How  shall 
they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  believed?"  Where 
there  is  no  belief  in  the  Lord,  there  will  be  no  calling  on  his 
name,  and,  of  course,  no  salvation.  Again  he  asks,  "How  shall 
they  believe  on  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard?  Faith 
Cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God."  His 
next  question  is,  "How  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher?" 
This  makes  the  preacher's  office  among  the  Gentiles  very  im- 
portant indeed.  All  involved  in  heathenish  idolatry,  and  no 
preacher  to  teach  them  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ.  Then 
again  he  asks,  "How  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent?" 
It  is  the  Lord's  prerogative  to  call,  commission,  and  send  forth 
the  preachers  ;  and  if  he  does  not  send  them,  there  will  be  no 
preaching,  hearing,  believing,  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
or  salvation.  The  vineyard  is  the  Lord's,  and  he  only  has  the 
right  to  appoint  the  laborers.  When  the  Savioilr  calls  one  of 
his  faithful  servants  to  preach  the  Gospel,  he  is  certainly  ca- 
pable of  making  that  man  fally  understand  that  he  is  called  to 
that  work,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  convince  the  Church  of  her 
duty  to  grant  him  her  sanction  and  send  him  forth.  A  truly 
spiritual  Church  will  not  often  err  in  her  judgment  concerning  the 
piety,  talents,  powers  of  utterance,  and  other  qualifications  for 
usefulness,  of  one  of  her  own  members,  who  is  called  of  Christ 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  The  same  spirit  that  moves  him  to  the 
work  will  move  the  Church  to  grant  him  her  authority  to  go 
out  into  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  as  a  laborer. 

Christ  called  the  twelve  Apostles,  and  constituted  them  his 
missionaries,  to  establish  Christianity  among  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  He  likewise  "appointed  other  seventy,"  and  directed 
them  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  would  "send  [or, 
as  it  is  rendered  by  Dr.  Clarke,  'thrust']  forth  laborers  into  his 
harvest."  It  takes  '■^  thrust ing^^'  sometimes,  to  get  the  right  kind 
of  men  to  go.  Some,  who  are  thoroughly  convinced  of  their 
duty  to  preach  the  Gospel,  make  many  excuses  for  not  going 
into  the  harvest-field.  Others,  like  Jonah,  rather  than  go  to 
the  work,  would   prefer  taking   ship,  and   fleeing   to  Tarshish, 


436       ADDRESS   TO   THE   MINISTERS   AND    MEMBERS   OP 

and  risk  the  storms  of  tlie  ocean.  Yet  there  are  others  who, 
like  Isaiah,  say,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me."  The  willing  laborer 
in  any  department  of  life  is  always  to  be  preferred.  "If  I  do 
this  thing  willingly,  I  have  a  reward;  but  if  against  my  will, 
a  dispeusatiou  of  the  Gospel  is  committed  unto  me ;  yea,  woe  is 
unto  me  if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel."  In  our  itinerant  field 
some  of  the  laborers  are  only  moved  on  in  the  work  by  fear 
of  the  woe.  At  last  they  do  quit  the  field,  enter  into  worldly 
business,  get  overwhelmed  in  trouble,  and  find  that  the  woe  has 
come,  and  this,  with  them,  may  be  only  the  beginning  of  sor- 
rows. Buried  taleats  are  yet  to  be  accounted  for  in  the  great 
day  of  the  Lord.  Elessed  is  the  man  who  cheerfully  bears  his 
crosses  and  trials  in  the  itinerant  field,  and  faithfully  does  his 
Master's  work  until  the  close  of  the  day,  or  until  he  is  other-, ^ 
wise  released  from  toil.  God  will  give  him  a  full  reward.  Yet  1 
have  known  many  who  entered  into  the  itinerant  field  reluctantly, 
but  came  at  last  to  like  the  work  well.  Amid  all  the  embar- 
rassments and  trials  connected  with  their  calling,  they  held  on 
their  way  and  finished  their  course  with  joy.  Others  of  this 
class  are  still  in  the  field — men  of  prominence  and  good  moral 
worth. 

To  sum  up  all,  as  to  the  call  to  the  ministry.  As  no  power 
on  earth  has  a  right  to  come  into  our  country  and  appoint  the 
Postmasters  of  the  United  States,  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  this  "nation,  or  the  Generals  of  our  armies,  it  being 
the  constitutional  prerogative  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  our 
Republic  to  do  that  work,  in  like  manner  there  is  no  earthly 
power  in  existence  that  has  the  right  to  supply  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  with  ministers.  The  prerogative  to  do  that  work 
is  in  Christ  only,  and  he  never  has  and  he  never  will  give  that 
power  into  other  hands.  My  conclusion  therefore  is,  that  we 
have  had  from  the  beginning,  and  have  at  this  time,  in  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  just  such  a  ministry  as  it  hath 
pleased  the  Master  to  give  us.  I  thank  him  most  devoutly  for 
the  gift  of  such  a  ministry.  They  have  done  well;  the  cause 
has  prospered  under  their  ministrations.  If  our  ministry  needs 
improvement  to  suit  the  times,  so  did  the  Twelve  after  Christ 
called  them  to  the  work ;  for  he  gave  them  the  benefit  of  over 
three  years'  instruction  to  qualify  them  more  fully  for  the  min- 
istry. And  there  was  the  eloquent  Apollos,  who  was  "  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures;"  even  he  needed  an  Aquilla  and  a  Priscilla  to 
"expound  unto  him  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly."  "They 
who  will  not  learn  can  not  teach."  That  our  ministers  need  a 
higher  grade  of  learning  to  suit  the  cultivated  age  in  which  we 
live   is  granted,  and  we   hope   soon   to  have  an  institution   of 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCn.  437 

learning  where  our  youni^  men  may  go,  not  to  get  their  call  to 
the  ministry,  but  where  they  may  go  after  they  are  called,  and 
receive  an  adequate  outfit  of  the  right  kind  of  training  for 
their  holy  work.  As  in  the  origin  of  the  Christian  Church 
Christ  took  fishermen  and  tax  collectors  and  put  them  into  the 
ministry,  so  from  the  farms  and  the  workshops  of  the  land 
he  has  given  us  our  preachers.     Such  men  need  a  further  training. 

It  may  have  been  best  for  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
in  the  outset,  to  begin  in  a  small  way  to  test  the  advantages  of 
lay  delegation.  If  the  General  Conference  of  1828  had  adopted 
lay  delegation,  then  the  principle  of  Chui'ch  freedom  would  have 
been,  to  a  great  extent,  in  the  hands  of  its  enemies,  or,  at  least, 
in  the  hands  of  the  uninformed,  where  its  real  worth  could  not 
Jiave  been  properly  appreciated ;  so  the  whole  scheme  of  re- 
publican liberty  in  the  Church  might  have  been  a  signal  fail- 
ure. But,  in  the  wisdom  of  Grod,  matters  in  our  case  were  or- 
dered otherwise.  As  Judaism  rejected  Christianity,  as  a  general 
thing,  and  compelled  it  to  go  into  a  new  organization  and  test 
its  principles,  on  the  outside  of  the  pale  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
so  the  old  Reformer;!  were  compelled,  by  the  action  of  the 
highest  tribunal  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  retire 
and  enter  into  a  new  ecclesiastical  organization.  As  Chris- 
tianity, small  at  the  beginning,  did  spread  throughout  the  world, 
meeting  and  overcoming  all  sorts  of  opposition  and  trials,  so 
the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  small  in  the  outset,  has  spread 
into  all  parts  of  our  country,  meeting  and  overcoming  in  her 
progress  all  sorts  of  trials,  and  has  had  an  ample  opportunity 
to  test,  right  under  the  eye  of  Episcopal  Methodism,  the  great 
worth  of  lay  delegation  as  connected  with  an  itinerant  ministry. 
And  as  the  time  will  come  when  the  Jews,  together  with  the 
fullness  of  the  Gentiles,  will  be  converted  and  come  into  the 
Christian  Church,  so,  according  to  the  signs  of  the  times,  I 
think  the  day  is  not  distant  when  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  will,  in  some  available  form,  adopt  lay  delegation  in  her 
Annual  and  General  Conferences,  and  amply  secure  the  liberty 
of  the  local  Churche.^.  When  this  is  done,  then  I  trust  that, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  all  the  various  branches  of  the  Meth- 
odist family  will  again  be  gathered  into  one  body.  As  this 
nation,  all  over,  from  sea  to  sea,  has  not  one  inch  of  soil  cursed 
with  slavery,  so  let  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  including 
all  her  oifshoots,  in  one  harmonious  brotherhood,  be  ecclesias- 
tically free,  and  so  go  down  to  the  latest  posterity.     Amen!- 

During  the  thirty-six  years  of  the  existence  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church,  the  progress  of  our  cause  has  been  gradual 
and  steady.     For  a  number  of  years  after  the  commencement 


438       ADDRESS    TO    THE   MINISTERS   AND   MEMBERS    OP 

of  our  operaticras,  every  inch  of  ground  we  gained  was  contested 
by  the  ministers  of  the  old  Church.  This  led  us  to  bring  our 
principles  constantly  before  the  people.  Those  prinpiples  gen- 
erally met  the  public  approbation,  and  our  increase  in  those 
days  was  more  rapid  than  it  has  been  since  the  contest  measur- 
ably died  away.  Opposition  kept  alive  debate,  the  people 
understood  the  controversy  and  all  about  mutual  rights,  and  a 
liberty-loving  Christian  always  knew  where  to  find  a  home;  so 
we  moved  on  prosperously.  Under  a  general  impression  that 
our  Church  was  on  the  right  foundation  as  to  doctrines  and 
ecclesiastical  economy,  the  controversy  for  a  number  of  years 
has  measurably  been  discontinued,  the  two  Churches  have  be- 
come quite  friendly,  and  two  results  have  followed.  First,  our 
Church  in  time  of  peace  has  not  increased  in  numbers  as  she. 
did  while  the  doctrines  of  ecclesiastical  freedom  were  kept  con- 
stantly before  the  people;  but  I  hope  our  religion  has  been  none 
the  less  pure.  Secondly,  our  Methodist  Episcopal  brethren 
have  had  time  to  cool  off  and  reflect,  and,  upon  due  considera- 
tion of  the  matter,  have  indorsed  our  principles,  and  are  aim- 
ing to  introduce  lay  delegation  themselves.  If  the  controversy 
had  been  kept  up  by  us,  they  might  have  remained  as  hostile 
as  formerly  and  made  no  movement  toward  a  lay  delegation. 
Even  truth  will  hardly  be  admitted  in  a  time  of  strife. 

But  if  the  advancement  of  Methodist  Protestantism  has  been 
somewhat  retarded  in  the  way  above-mentioned,  it  has  been 
much  more  retarded  by  the  slavery  question.  This  question,  as 
discussed  in  our  Annual  and  General  Conferences,  and  in  our 
Church  paper,  did  for  a  time  greatly  perplex  our  people.  It 
hindered  our  Sunday-school  operations  and  our  missionary  work, 
and  broke  up  our  college.  At  last,  to  save  the  life  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  in  the  free  States,  we  were  com- 
pelled, in  the  Convention  of  1858,  to  suspend  all  official  coope- 
ration with  those  Conferences  and  Churches  which  did  tolerate 
slavery  and  the  slave-trade.  We  did  love  our  brethren  in  the 
South,  but  they  held  fast  to  what  we  deemed  a  great  moral 
evil.  Union  with  them  was  destruction  to  us;  so,  on  priueiples 
of  morality  and  necessity,  we  declined  cooperating  with  them 
any  longer,  unless  the  evil  complained  of  was  entirely  done 
away.  0  how  profoundly  deep  and  mysterious  are  the  ways  of 
God  in  his  providential  dealings  with  man  !  It  never  entered  into 
the  mind  of  any  man,  in  the  Convention  of  1858,  that  God,  by 
means  of  a  terrible  civil  war,  would  abolish  slavery  in  every 
State  in  the  Union  in  18G5;  yet  the  deed  is  done,  and,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  I  have  lived  1»  see  my  country  a  land  of  free- 
dom for  men  of  all  colors  and  of  all  races.     Now  that  slavery 


THE   METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  439 

is  dead  and  can  be  no  more  a  source  of  trouble,  it  is  my  hope 
that  the  two  wings  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  North  and 
South,  will  agree  to  work  together  again  under  the  constitution, 
and  that  abundant  prosperity  will  attend  our  united  efforts  to 
spread  Cristianity  through  all  the  land.  If  it  be  desired  by 
the  parties  concerned,  the  General  Conference  of  1866  can 
easily  remove  the  suspension  of  1858,  and  then  both  wings  of 
the  Church,  equally  free  from  slavery,  can  act  again  in  harmony 
in  building  up  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  It  is  time  now,  since 
the  war  is  over,  to  reconstruct  the  Churches  as  well  as  the 
Union,  provided  it  can  be  done  on  principles  fair  and  honorable 
to  all  concerned. 

I  have  lately  seen  a  disparaging  allusion  to  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church  in  the  New  York  "Christian  Advocate  and 
Journal,"  which,  in  my  judgment,  deserves  a  rebuke.  The 
Methodist  Protestant  Church,  now  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of 
her  age,  holds  a  very  respectable  position  among  the  Christian 
Churches  in  our  country.  If  the  Advocate  does  not  know 
this  fact,  others  do,  and  freely  acknowledge  it  in  every  appro- 
priate manner.  Not  having  the  Advocate  at  hand,  I  can  not 
quote  its  precise  language ;  but  our  Church  is  alluded  to,  in 
a  belittling  way,  as  an  obscure  Church  but  little  known  ;  and  Rev. 
T.  H.  Stockton's  position  in  such  a  diminutive  c-ommunity  is 
referred  to  in  tones  of  commiseration.  It  may  do  good,  and  I 
hope  it  will  do  no  harm  to  any  one,  if  I  call  the  attention  of 
the  Advocate  back  to  the  position  of  its  own  Church  when  she 
was  thirty-six  years  of  age.  Was  she  any  more  respectable  in 
her  ministry  or  membership,  or  any  more  useful,  than  our  Church 
is  to-day?  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  had  then  358 
itinerant  preachers  and  86,73i  members,  colored  and  white. 
Now,  taking  our  Church,  North  and  South,  we  have  many  more 
itinerant  preachers  and  members  than  they  had  at  our  age. 
Since  the  war,  however,  we  can  not  state  our  numbers  with 
certainty.  The  missionary  interests  of  the  two  Churches  for  the 
period  mentioned  have  been  about  alike — no  foreign  missions 
established.  In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  all  their  col- 
lege enterprises  failed  during  the  time  specified.  During  that 
time  we  have  had  college  failures  too ;  yet  we  did  run  Madison 
College,  at  Uniontown,  Penn.,  about  six  years,  with  some  ad- 
vantage to  the  Church  and  the  country.  Our  book  concern,  I 
think,  is  on  as  good  a  foundation  as  that  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  at  our  age.  During  her  first  thirty-six 
years  the  old  Church  had  no  denominational  papers ;  but  we 
have  had  one  or  more  Church  papers  all  the  time.  As  to 
houses  of  worship,  parsonages,  support  of  the  itinerant  ministry, 


440    '      ADDRESS  TO   THE   MINISTERS  AND  MEMBERS  OF 

provision  for  the  superannuated  preachers,  etc.,  I  know  that  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  is  now  better  off  than  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  was  during  her  first  thirty-six  years. 
Our  ministry  now  will  suffer  nothing  in  comparison  with  theirs 
in  1815,  when,  under  the  direction  of  the  Presiding  Elder,  Eev. 
Enoch  George,  I  entered  the  itinerant  field.  Our  members,  like 
our  ministers,  I  know,  are  no  better  than  they  should  be;  yet, 
for  intelligence,  piety,  and  liberality,  I  hold  them  to  be  equal 
to  those  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  any  period  of 
her  history.  As  to  our  lay  delegation,  for  which  the  fathers 
of  Reform  suffered  ecclesiastical  martyrdom,  why  are  we  re- 
proached for  that?  Is  not  the  old  Church  at  this  very  time 
seeking  to  advance  her  own  interests  by  introducing  that  feature 
of  our  economy? 

Like  John  the  Baptist,  we  have  gone  before  the  old  Church, 
to  prepare  the  way,  and  we  are  ready  to  acknowledge,  as  did 
John,  that  a  greater  than  we  are  cometh  after  us.  Now,  as 
Christ  gave  due  credit  to  his  forerunner,  so  let  the  old  Church 
do  to  us.  Let  them  treat  us  as  being  as  respectable  and  useful 
a  body  of  Christians  as  they  were  at  our  age;  let  them  cease  to 
call  us  "rads"  and  "radicals,"  and  to  speak  sneeringly  of  the 
"old  radical  controversy"  and  its  "violence,"  as  though  all 
the  "violence"  was  on  our  side.  In  their  consciences  they  know 
better  than  this.  Let  them  remember  that,  in  the  days  of  their 
youth,  they  were  the  people  every-where  spoken  against;  and  ^ 
now  that  they  have  grown  strong,  let  them  not  become  proud 
and  treat  contemptuously  those  that  are  weak,  calling  them 
■•'radicals,"  etc.  Why,  if  they  did  but  know  it,  they  are  radi- 
cals themselves ;  for  they  seek  a  lay  delegation,  and  this  is  the 
very  essence  of  radicalism.  Yet,  after  all,  I  must  do  justice  to 
the  old  Church.  I  freely  admit  that  her  treatment  to  us  has 
been  mild,  compared  with  that  of  the  Jews  to  the  first  Chris- 
tians, or  to  that  of  the  Catholics  to  the  Protestants  in  the  days 
of  other  years.  Her  only  Church  paper  that  does  us  injustice 
at  this  time,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  is  the  New  York  Advocate. 
A  little  more  mild,  Christian  candor  in  that  paper  would  be  an 
improvement.  As  to  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  old 
Church,  I  do  not  charge  on  them  the  sins  of  the  Advocate,  and 
I  hereby  take  pleasure  in  acknowledging,  in  a  general  way,  their 
brotherly  kindness  to  our  denomination. 

As  to  the  other  denominations  of  Protestant  Christians  in 
our  country,  so  far  as  ray  information  extends,  peace  and  Chris- 
tian friendship  prevail.  The  Presbyterians — Old  School  and 
New — the  Congregationalists,  the  United  Presbyterians,  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterians,  the  Baptists,  the  Protestant  Epis- 


THE    METHODIST    PllOTESTANT    CHURCH.  441 

copallans,  the  United  Brethren,  and  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Connection,  etc.,  all  treat  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  with 
brotherly  kindness  and  charity.  Nearly  all  these  denomina- 
tions agree  with  us  in  according  to  the  laity  their  ecclesias- 
tical rights.  And  whatever  may  be  in  their  standard  books, 
from  their  pulpits  I  have  not  heard  any  thing  for  many  years 
that  would  be  offensive  to  the  most  delicate  Methodist  ears. 
They  occupy  our  pulpits  occasionally,  and  our  ministers  occupy 
theirs;  and,  on  special  occasions,  the  various  congregations  often 
mingle  together,  in  the  same  house  of  worship,  with  a  great 
deal  of  brotherly  affection,  feeling  that  "  One  is  their  Master, 
even  Christ,  and  they  are  all  brethren."  To  have  the  good 
will  and  occasional  help  of  these  influential  denominations  is 
a  real  source  of  pleasure  and  profit  to  the  Christian  heart; 
and  it  is  likewise  a  matter  of  gratitude  to  God  to  see  real 
Christian  sympathy  so  extensively  prevailing  over  sectarian 
bigotry.  Christians  may  belong  to  different  denominations,  and 
yet  be  one  in  heart. 

Christian  union  is  of  two  kinds — spiritual  and  ecclesiastical. 
I  wonder  if  even  in  the  millennium  all  demoninational  dis- 
tinctions will  be  entirely  done  away.  If  Jesus  Christ  comes 
from  heaven  to  reign  on  earth  in  {person,  this  thing  may  be; 
but  should  his  reign  be  wholly  spiritual,  and  carried  on  from 
heaven,  as  at  present,  men,  I  think,  will  always  find  arguments 
to  justify  denominational  distinctions.  If  all  the  denomina- 
tions above-mentioned,  who  have,  in  fact,  a  spiritual  union,  and 
are  of  one  heart  and  one  soul,  were  to  pull  down  their  various 
ecclesiastical  establishments,  and  out  of  the  old  materials  erect 
a  new  edifice  large  enough  to  contain  them  all,  that  might  not 
make  the  spiritual  union  any  more  perfect  than  it  now  is. 
Bring  the  whole  under  one  roof,  and  if  the  Holy  Spirit  does 
not  now  mold  the  whole  of  them,  and  fill  them  with  love  to 
God  and  one  another,  and  make  the  spiritual  union  complete, 
an  ecclesiastical  union  might  be  rather  an  injury  than  a  bless- 
ing. The  more  unsauctified,  unloving  souls  you  bring  together, 
the  more  trouble  you  have  to  maintain  jrood  order.  Nothina; 
heavenly  love  can  be  an  adequate  cement  of  Christian 
union ;  and  that  love,  with  its  long  arms,  can  embrace  a  brother 
across  the  lines  in  another  Christian  community,  and  without  it 
we  might  persecute  him  if  we  had  him  in  ours.  We  are  all 
social  beings.  Religious  society  is  necessary  to  Christian  happi- 
ness, but  that  society  need  not  include  all  Christendom  in  order 
to  our  spiritual  enjoyment.  The  great  worth  of  a  strong  ec- 
clesiastical organization  is  found  not  so  much  in  the  power  it 
has  to  impart  happiness  to  its  own  individual  members  as  in 
28 


442  ADDRESS  TO  THE    MINISTERS  AND  MEMBERS  OP 

its  power  to  do  a  more  extensive  good  to  mankind,  and  thereby 
bring  a  greater  degree  of  glory  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Clirist.  1 
am,  in  this  view  of  the  matter,  favorable  to  the  proposed  union 
of  all  the  non-episeopal  Methodists.  All  these  bodies  are  com- 
paratively weak.  Union  may  not  make  any  member  in  either 
body  a  better  Christian,  but  it  will  give  to  the  united  body  a 
greater  power  to  do  good  among  men,  and  to  glorify  the  Sav 
iour  of  the  world  in  a  higlicr  degree. 

The  Wesleyan  Methodists  came  out  from  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  on  the  anti-slavery  question.  We  came  out 
from  the  same  Church  on  the  lay  delegation  question.  Had  it 
not  been  for  our  connection  with  Churches  and  Conferences 
that  tolerated  the  slave  system  in  all  its  branches,  they  would 
have  united  with  us  at  first,  instead  of  going  into  a  separate 
organization.  Ever  since  1858,  when  our  Church  in  the  North, 
through  a  convention,  took  action  to  relieve  herself  from  all 
slavery  connections,  and  thus  to  save  her  own  life,  there  has 
been  a  growing  desire  for  a  union  between  the  Wesleyans  and 
our  body.  Finally,  the  subject  took  a  wider  range,  so  as  to 
include  all  the  non-episcopal  Methodists  in  our  country.  In  a 
convention  held  in  Cleveland,  on  the  21st  of  June,  1865,  largely 
attended  by  volunteer  representatives  from  all  the  aforesaid 
bodies,  in  great  harmony,  and  with  as  rich  a  flow  of  heavenly 
feeling  as  I  ever  witnessed  in  a  deliberative  assembly,  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  union  were  adopted.  Then  a  convention 
to  consummate  the  union  was  recommended.  This  convention 
has  been  called  by  nearly  all  the  non-episcopal  Methodists  to  meet 
in  May,  1866,  in  Union  Chapel,  Cincinnati,  and  is  clothed  with 
full  authority  to  unite  all  those  bodies  together  in  one  Church. 
And  it  is  my  sincere  belief  that  clear-headed,  sound,  Christian 
logic  will  no  longer  justify  these  several  Methodist  communi- 
ties in  remaining  apart.  Their  Christian  doctrines  are  all  cast 
in  the  same  Methodist  mold;  their  principles  of  ecclesiastical 
economy  are  the  same.  They  must  unite  or  abandon  common 
sense.  In  union  there  will  be  strcnyth;  in  separate  existence 
nothing  but  weakness.  This  writer,  with  all  his  heart,  goes 
for  the  union,  in  the  full  faith  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  con- 
cerned, in  every  laudable  and  honorable  way,  to  increase  our 
power,  to  benefit  our  race,  and  glory  God  by  a  more  vigorous 
advancement  of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  world. 

And  now  for  one  thing  more.  A  mere  ecclesiastical  union 
is  not  enough.  There  is  need  of  prayer  to  God  to  harmonize 
all  the  jarring  elements  in  the  several  parties  concerned,  in 
order  that  the  union  may  be  brought  about.  There  will  be  need 
of  faith,  hope,  charity,  and  prayer  in  the  convention  where  the 


THE    METnODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  '     443 

union  is  to  be  effected,  and  then  it  will  require  a  great  deal  of 
the  right  kind  of  religion  to  make  the  union  valuable. 

During  the  past  four  years  of  terrible  war  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  invaluable  Government  of  our  beloved  country, 
the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
with  a  very  few  exceptions,  have  given  evidence  of  the  reality 
of  their  religion  by  an  undeviating  loyalty  to  the  American 
Union.  It  has  been  pretty  generally  understood,  by  both 
preachers  and  people,  that  loyalty  and  religion  aref  enjoined  by 
the  same  Divine  authority.  "Render  therefore  unto  Cassar,  the 
things  which  are  Caesar's;  and  unto  God,  the  things  that  are 
God's,"  is  the  teaching  of  Christ.  And  St.  Paul  enforces  obe- 
dience to  civil  government  in  this  lauguage:  "Let  every  soul 
be  subject  unto  the  higher  powers.  For  there  is' no  power  but 
of  God:  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God.  Whosoever 
therefore  resisteth  the  power,  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God; 
and  they  that  resist  shall  receive  to  themselves  damnation," 
etc.  These  texts,  taken  in  connection  with  many  others  in  the 
New  Testament,  plainly  enjoin  loyalty  to  civil  government  as 
an  essential  Christian  duty.  A  man  might  be  loyal  and  not 
be  a  Christian,  but  he  could  not  be  a  Christian  and  at  the 
same  time  not  be  loyal,  even  to  such  a  government  as  Ca3sar's, 
and  especially  to  so  good  a  government  as  ours — the  best  that 
the  world  ever  saw.  Hence,  our  Church,  with  this  understand- 
ing of  her  Christian  duty,  has  given  her  most  cordial  support 
to  the  union  cause,  until  the  rebellion  was  overthrown.  What 
Church,  in  proportion  to  her  numbers,  gave  more  ministers  to 
the  army  than  ours?  Some  went  as  Chaplains,  others  as  regi- 
mental or  company  officers,  and  others  again  as  common  sol- 
diers; while  those  at  home  who  had  sons  sent  them  to  help 
save  the  country,  some  of  whom  fell  in  battle  and  others  bj 
disease.  My  stricken  heart  feels  what  I  now  write,  for  I,  too, 
lost  a  son,  the  last  son  I  had,  my  beloved  George.  He  was  a 
Christian  preacher,  a  vacant  soldier,  and  after  some  hard-fought 
battles,  he  fell  by  disease.  So  it  fared  with  many  others  of 
our  ministers — they  lost  their  sons  by  the  war.  And  the 
preachers  at  home,  in  their  several  charges,  while  doing  all  they 
could  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  did  not  forget  their  country  and 
the  army.  They  prayed  for  our  rulers  and  the  salvation  of 
our  country;  they  delivered  sermons  and  lectures,  when  neces- 
sary, in  behalf  of  the  cause.  And  what  Church,  in  proportion 
to  her  members,  sent  forth  to  the  war  more  of  her  private 
members  than  ours?  The  blood  of  our  brethren  has  stained 
many  a  battle-field;  some  have  starved  in  Southern  prisons,  and 
others  fill  soldiers'  graves  in  the  far-off  regions  of  the  Souxh, 


444        ADDRESS    TO    THE    MINISTERS    AND    MEMBERS    OF 

■while  a  goodly  uumber  have  returned  to  cheer  their  familiefe 
and  bless  the  Church.  Thank  the  Lord  for  a  Church  combin- 
ing in  herself  the  great  elements  of  loyalty  to  our  country  and 
piety  toward  God !  Thank  the  Lord  that  the  war  is  ended,  the 
government  is  saved,  the  slaves  are  freed,  and  that  in  all  the 
land  we  now  have  peace!  This  is  peace  at  home,  within  our 
own  borders,  and  we  rejoice  in  it  and  give  glory  to  God  for  it; 
but  the  American  eye  is  turned  toward  Mexico,  where,  by  the 
aid  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  Maximilian,  a  vile  intruder 
from  Austria,  is  seated  on  a  tottering  throne,  aiming  to  subvert 
republican  liberty,  which,  according  to  the  Monroe  doctrine,  our 
nation  never  can  allow;  so  now  we  may  look  for  a  foreign  war. 
May  it  not  be  so  that  we  are  now  just  on  the  eve  of  the  last 
/^  great  wars  of  the  world  before  the  millennium?  The  great 
despotisms  of  the  Old  World  will  no  more  yield  to  argument 
than  did  the  slaveholders  of  the  South,  and  yet  those  despot- 
isms must  be  removed  before  "the  kingdoms  of  this  world  can 
become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Loi-d  and  his  Christ."  I  think 
that  we  are  taught  by  the  Holy  Prophets  that,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  the  terrible  hammer  of  war  will  do  this  work. 
The  missionaries  in  all  the  world  are  making  converts  to  Chi'is- 
tianity,  and  implanting  ideas  of  a  higher  civilization  in  those 
despotic,  idolatrous  nations.  Opposing  principles  will  conie  into 
conflict,  and  a  war  of  ideas  will  lead  to  war  with  swords ;  then 
comes  on  the  last  great  wars  of  the  world. 

But,  turning  away  from  the  Old  World  and  looking  at  the 
condition  of  our  own  beloved  country,  and  leaving  all  our  sister 
Churches  to  pursue  their  own  plans  for  the  thorough  evangeli- 
zation of  this  nation,  so  as  to  make  it  to  be  as  full  of  right- 
eousness as  it  ever  has  been  of  sin.  and  praying  God  to  bless 
all  the  eiforts  of  those  Churches  for  our  country's  good,  what 
does  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  require  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  to  do  in  this  great  work  of  evangelization?  Certainly 
there  is  a  great  work  to  be  done  in  this  field,  now  "white  unto 
the  harvest,"  and  we  are  not  to  "  staiid  all  the  day  idle."  Our 
holy  religion,  with  all  its  heavenly  purity,  did  not  propagate 
itself.  Living  agents  were  chosen  by  Christ  to  spread  the  glad 
tidings  of  salvation  throughout  the  world.  In  like  manner,  our 
methodistical  views  of  Scriptural  Chi-istianity,  connected,  as  they 
are,  with  the  rights  of  the  laity,  will  not  propagate  themselves. 
We  need  living,  active,  competent,  spirit-stirring  agents  in  the 
great  Gospel  harvest  field  to  carry  on  the  work.  We  need 
good  generals,  who  do  not  aim  to  do  all  the  fighting  themselves^ 
but  who  know  how  to  marshal  their  forces  and  lead  on  the 
sacramental  host  of  God's  elect  into  the  battles  of  the  Lord. 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  445 

"Will  it  not  be  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church,  if  there  should  be  ia  all  parts  of  Meth- 
odist Protestantism  a  glorious  revival  of  religiou?  Will  it 
not  be  for  the  Saviour's  hoaor  if  all  our  lukewarm  Churches 
should  be  brought  up  to  the  higher  Christian  life  and  bltetised 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  fire?'  Will  not  the  Son  of  (lod  be 
glorified  if,  through  the  instrumentality  of  our  ministers  and 
Churches,  multiplied  thousands  of  sinners  should  be  converted 
and  added  to  the  Church?  To  strengthen  the  Churches  at 
home,  and  thus  more  efi"ectually  enable  them  to  render  service 
abroad,  is  certainly  our  first  work. 

Now,  since  protracted  meetings  are  the  order  of  the  day,  how 
may  they  be  carried  on  to  the  greatest  advantage?  1.  Let  our 
protracted  meetings,  where  all  our  people  in  any  given  place 
arc  expected  to  go  into  the  work,  be  introduced  by  consent  of 
the  Church,  with  all  her  members  pledged  to  attend  them,  and 
work  for  Christ  in  the  meetings  and  among  their  friends  and 
acquaintances.  Such  a  meeting  requires  all  the  influence  the 
entire  Church  can  bring  to  bear  on  the  community.  2.  Under 
a  deep  sense  of  the  insufficiency  of  human  eiforts,  and  of  the 
need  of  Divine  assistance  on  such  an  occasion,  the  meeting  should 
be  introduced  with  a  day  of  solemn  fasting  and  prayer,  and  car- 
ried on  a  short  time  as  a  prayer-meeting,  in  view  of  obtaining 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  3.  All  the  preaching  should  be 
directed  to  one  point;  namely,  a  revival  of  religion.  Whether 
one  preacher  or  many  shall  be  called  into  service,  this  one  ob- 
ject should  constantly  be  kept  in  view.  On  such  an  occasion, 
the  preachers  should  agree  among  themselves  all  to  preach  for 
a  revival.  Repentance  must  be  faithfully  preached  in  all  its  con- 
stituent principles  and  feelings,  and  urged  home  upon  the  con- 
sciences of  sinners,  in  order  to  bring  them  as  penitents  to  the 
mercy-seat.  Justification  by  faith  alone,  through  the  merits 
of  Jesus  Christ,  must  be  preached  in  order  to  bring  penitents 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  The  "clean 
heart,"  the  "right  spirit,"  Bible  holiness,  entire  sanctification, 
the  higher  Christian  life,  filling  the  soul  with  perfect  love,  must, 
in  the  preaching,  be  scripturally  explained  and  urged  upon  be- 
lievers ;  nor  must  the  poor  guilty  backslider  be  forgotten  or 
neglected.  The  preaching  should  faithfully  and  scripturally  fill 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  audience  with  true  ideas  of  the 
work  of  God  to  be  accomplished.  Let  no  preacher  miss  the 
mark,  and  fill  the  minds  of  the  hearers  full  of  ideas  foreign  to 
a  work  of  grace.  If  he  does  this,  his  pretvflhing  is  a  real  hin- 
derance,  and  God  will  have  to  cast  all  that  he  has  said  out  of 
the  minds  of  the  people,  and  fill  them  with  other  ideas  of  the 


446         ADDRESS  TO  THE   MINISTERS  AND  MEMBERS  OF 

right  kind  before  lie  can  get  at  them  to  carry  on  his  work. 
Better  have  no  preaching  at  all  than  that  which  does  not  help 
ou  the  work  of  the  Lord.  A  discourse  on  the  external  evi- 
dences of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  or  one  showing  that  geology 
does  ^t  contradict  the  Bible,  on  proper  occasions,  may  be  in 
place.  But  at  a  protracted  meeting  such  discourses  are  like 
putting  down  the  brakes  hard  on  the  car  of  salvation.  They 
arrest,  at  least  for  a  time,  the  whole  work.  A  sermon  m;^de  up 
of  abstract  speculations,  taken  mainly  from  "Drew  on  the  Resur- 
rection," which  I  once  heard  in  Steubenville  in  time  of  a  revival, 
■where  there  were  many  penitents,  put  a  chill  on  the  whole  meet- 
ing. No  j^eni'fents  came  to  the  altar  that  7ii(/ht.  But  where  a 
spiritually-minded  preacher,  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
comes  forth  to  the  congregation  with  a  sermon  not  wholly  in 
his  head,  but  mainly  in  his  heart — one  that  has  cost  him  much 
thought  to  arrange  it,  and  much  prayer  to  Grod  for  a  blessing 
on  it,  that  souls  might  be  led  to  Christ  by  it — good  will  be 
done,  nobody  will  be  chilled,  all*  will  be  warmed  by  a  heavenly 
fire  running  through  the  assembly,  melting  all  before  it.  Under 
such  preaching  sinners  will  be  converted,  and  the  Church 
strengthened  in  her  numbers  and  in  the  vital  energies  of  all 
her  Christian  graces. 

But,  in  order  to  a  proper  efSciency  in  sending  the  Gospel 
to  the  destitute  of  our  own  country  and  other  regions  of  the 
earth,  our  Church  must  have  the  help  of  a  first-class  college. 
This,  I  trust,  we  shall  soon  have.  Our  Church  must  do  her 
whole  duty  in  the  education  of  the  rising  generation.  We  must 
educate  the  children  of  our  membership,  if  we  would  retain  them 
in  our  community.  To  suit  the  age  in  which  we  live,  and  place 
our  young  preachers  on  a  par  with  the  ministers  of  other 
Churches,  they  must  receive  a  thorough  classical  and  theo- 
logical training  in  an  institution  of  our  own.  To  educate  our 
young  men  whose  hearts  incline  them  to  the  Gospel  ministry 
in  literary  institutions  belonging  to  other  denominations,  is  to 
tempt  them  to  leave  our  ranks  and  give  their  services  to  that 
Chui'ch  under  whose  influence  they  were  trained.  In  this  way 
we  have  lost  from  our  itinerancy  many  of  our  most  valuable 
young  men.  Now,  I  trust  that  Ave  shall  do  so  no  more,  but  edu- 
cate them  at  home,  and  keep  them  to  build  up  our  beloved 
Church  ;  for  she  needs,  at  this  time,  not  only  a  pious  but  an 
educated  ministry. 

When  we  shall  be  able  to  give  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
our  people  a  thorough  classical  and  religious  education  at  our 
own  college,  and  do  our  full  share  in  training  the  youths  of 
our  country;   when  we  shall   be  able  to  send   forth   from  our 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  447 

college  hcills  well-cultivated  meu  into  all  the  learned  profes- 
Bions;  when  they  .shall  be  found  in  the  medical  department,  at 
the  bar,  in  the  pulpit,  on  the  bench,  and  in  the  legislatures  of 
our  land,  every-where  prepared  to  befriend  the  Church  that 
originated  and  sustained  the  institution  where  they  received 
their  education,  our  Church,  in  the  hands  of  Christ,  will  be  a 
much  greater  power  for  the  accomplishment  of  good  in  our 
country  than  she  now  is. 

One  evidence  of  the  want  of  culture  among  the  ministers  of 
our  Church,  and  perhaps  of  other  Churches,  too,  is  the  use  of 
other  men's  skeletons  of  sermons.  Does  this  really  grow  out 
of  the  want  of  culture,  or  of  native  talent,  or  of  industry?  To 
be  a  driveling  retailer  of  other  men's  wares  is  not  creditable  to 
a  Christian  minister,  and  I  do  solemnly  believe  the  practice  is 
injurious  to  the  Churches  of  the  present  age.  On  this  subject 
the  following  is  my  creed : 

Article  I.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  only  has  the  right  to  sup- 
ply the  Christian  Church  with  ministers.  No  other  being, 
power,  or  authority  can  come  in  here  to  take  his  place  and 
perform  this  work  for  him. 

Article  II.  That  in  supplying  his  Church  with  ministers, 
Christ  did  intend  that  there  should  be  a  diversity  in  their  talents 
and  qualifications  for  service.  "  Unto  one  he  gave  five  talents, 
to  another  two,  and  another  one;"  an  improvement  is  required 
of  all.  No  talents  are  to  be  buried,  and  all  are  held  to  a  strict 
account. 

Article  III.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  never  did  call  a  man 
into  the  ministry  who  had  not  at  least  one  talent,  or  an  ability, 
with  the  aids  afforded,  to  construct  a  sermon  such  as  that  man 
ought  to  preach. 

Article  IV.  If  every  minister  called  by  Christ  will  preach 
just  such  sermons  as,  by  the  aid  of  all  sorts  of  good  books  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  he  may  be  able  to  make  for  himself,  then  the 
Church  will  get  the  variety  intended  for  her  by  the  Saviour, 
and  will  prosper. 

Article  V.  But  should  Christ's  ministers,  from  any  cause 
whatever,  decline  making  their  own  sermons,  and  try  to  satisfy 
their  consciences  by  preaching  the  sketches  found  in  "  Hannam," 
"Simeon,"  "The  London  Five-hundred,"  or  any  book  of  bones, 
then  all  the  preachers  using  the  same  books  will  appear  to  be  of 
one  and  the  same  grade  of  intellect,  the  Church  will  lose  that 
variety  intended  for  her  by  the  Saviour,  and  there  will  be  a 
great  spiritual  dearth  in  the  Churches  in  those  days.  All  those 
preachers  who  lack  mental  capacity  to  make  a  sermon  should 
immediately  return  to  their  homes.     So  should  all  those  indo- 


448  ADDRESS  TO  THE    MINISTERS  AND  MEMBERS  OF 

lent  drones  who  do  business  on  borrowed  capital,  simply  be- 
cause they  are  too  lazy  to  read  and  write  and  think,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  make  their  own  sermons.  To  preach  other  men's 
sermons,  or  the  skeletons  of  other  men,  as  though  they  were  their 
own,  and  give  no  credit  to  the  real  author,  is  considered  "  pla- 
giarism;" i.  e.,  a  literary  theft;  and  when  thieves  occupy  our 
pulpits,  what  is  to  become  of  the  work  of  the  Lord?  No  won- 
der that  the  Churches  decline  under  such  a  ministry. 

Every  preacher  should  not  only  be  a  man  of  prayer,  but  a 
hard  student  and  a  maker  of  his  own  sermons.  It  is  true  his 
sermons  may  not  be  equal  to  those  of  Shinn,  or  Suethen,  or 
Stockton,  but  they  will  be  his  own,  and  just  such  as  Christ  re- 
quires him  to  preach.  Christ  never  required  any  man  to  ap- 
pear fine  in  borrowed  clothes.  Let  every  man  appear  in  his  own 
garments,  earned  by  the  blessing  of  God  on  his  own  labor.  Let 
every  preacher  write  out  a  plan  of  his  sermon,  that  he  may  see 
his  subject  in  all  its  connections  and  bearings;  let  him  get  his 
mind  and  heart  fully  imbued  with  its  truths;  let  him  pray  God 
to  breathe  into  it  the  breath  of  spiritual  life,  and  to  give  him 
power  from  on  high  to  preach  it  to  the  people;  and  then  from 
his  knees  let  him  go  to  his  pulpit,  and  deliver  his  message  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  A  real  Gospel  sermon,  thus  prepared 
and  delivered,  will  prove  a  blessing  to  any  people.  Both  saints 
and  sinners  will  feel  its  power.  One  such  preacher  will,  like 
Elijah,  whom  God  answered  by  fire  from  heaven,  be  more  than 
match  for  four  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  prophets  of  Baal.  Such 
preachers  are  much  wanted  in  all  the  Churches. 

There  is  a  practice  among  the  preachers  of  stuffing  their 
text,  as  it  is  called.  The  test  really  has  no  sermon  in  it.  No 
doctrine,  no  experience  or  practice  can  be  found  there  by  any 
kind  of  legitimate  interpretation;  yet  the  preacher's  wonder- 
working genius  out  of  that  text  brings  forth  to  the  people  a 
pretty  good  sermon.  He  stufi's  the  text  with  a  meaning  not  its 
own,  and  then  brings  that  meaning  out  tQ  an  admiring,  assem- 
bly. Thus  the  text  is  made  to  speak  what  the  Holy  Spirit 
never  intended.  Ehud's  words  to  Eglon,  king  of  Moab,  when 
he  slew  him  with  a  dagger,  is  a  favorite  text  with  some  preach- 
ers: "I  have  a  message  from  God  unto  thee."  (Judges  iii: 
20.)  I  once  heard  a  strong  preacher  read  this  text  to  his  con- 
gregation. The  sermon  was  addressed  mainly  to  the  wicked, 
and  it  was  a  good  one,  powerfully  delivered,  but  it  did  not 
grow  out  of  the  passage  read.  In  that  text,  with  fair  dealing, 
nothing  can  be  found  but  Ehud's  dagger.  On  another  occa- 
sion, I  heard  a  sprightly  preacher  read  this  text  to  his  congre- 
gation: "And  there  were  six  steps  to  the  throne."     (2  Chron- 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCn.  449 

icles  ix :  18.)  This  text  refers  to  Solomon's  throne,  and  to 
nothing  else.  The  sermon  was  certainly  a  good  one,  but  the 
text  did  not  contain  it.  According  to  the  preacher,  the  first 
step  to  the  throne  was  consideration,  the  second  was  conviction 
for  sin,  the  third  was  repentance,  the  fourth  was  justification 
by  faith,  the  fifth  was  sanctification,  and  the  sixth  was  glorifi- 
cation in  heaven.  Will  Christ  be  pleased  with  his  ministers 
for  compelling  a  portion  of  Scripture  to  give  forth  a  meaning 
never  intended  by  the  Holy  Spirit?  If  these  "six  steps  to  the 
throne  "  had  ever  been  referred  to  by  the  sacred  writers  as  an 
allegory,  then  the  preacher  might  be  justified  in  his  use  of  it, 
not  otherwise.  Preachers  should  be  faithful  expounders,  not 
misrepresenters  of  God's  Word.  With  them  this  should  be  a 
matter  of  conscience.  At  another  time  I  heard  a  venerable 
preacher,  on  a  sacramental  occasion,  read  to  a  large  congrega- 
tion this  text:  "And  the  Lord  shewed  me  four  carpenters." 
(Zech.  i :  20.)  The  sermon  was  rather  too  long,  but  it  was  good 
and  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  But  what  mortal  man  upon 
earth  could  honestly  say  it  grew  out  of  the  text?  To  stuff  a 
text,  and  then  draw  out  from  it  what  God  never  put  in  it,  or 
meant  it  to  teach,  is  miserable  work.  Why  is  this  done?  Cer- 
tainly the  Bible  is  full  of  texts  of  the  right  kind,  all  of  them 
full  of  meaning,  to  suit  all  occasions.  I  wish  I  could  success- 
fully guard  my  brethren  in  the  ministry  against  torturing  a 
meaning  out  of  God's  Word  which  he  never  intended. 

It  is  very  important  for  ministers  of  the  Gospel  at  all  times 
to  be  appropriate  in  their  discourses.  A  minister  who  does  not 
regard  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  suit  his  discourse  to  special 
occasions,  will  often  appear  before  the  public  to  very  great  dis- 
advantage. I  once  heard  a  minister,  who  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  pulpit  of  this  nation  for  many  years,  preach  a  most  power- 
ful sermon  from  this  text  on  a  sacramental  occasion :  "And 
for  this  cause  God  shall  send  them  strong  delusion,  that  they 
should  believe  a  lie:  that  they  all  might  be  damned  who  be- 
lieved not  the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness." 
(2  Thess.  ii:  11,  12.)  That  was  an  awful  sermon,  full  of  truth 
and  sound  argument.  But  it  froze  the  audience  with  terror 
instead  of  melting  them  with  the  Saviour's  dying  love.  Indeed, 
the  tender  strains  of  Calvary  were  not  heard  that  day,  and  the 
children  of  God  came  to  the  Holy  Communion  with  a  sad- 
dened state  of  heart,  produced  by  an  inappropriate  sermon, 
full  of  the  curses  of  the  Most  High  against  an  apostate  Church, 
whose  head  is  "the  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition."  Such 
sermons  are  certainly  out  of  place  at  such  a  time  as  that,  and 
I  and   many  others  wondered  at  a  man  of  such   sound  sense 


450        ADDRESS    TO    THE    MINISTERS    AND    MEMBERS    OP 

delivering  it  before  the  eucharistic  feast.  On  another  occasion, 
not  long  after  the  foregoing,  I  heard,  from  one  of  our  best 
preachers,  a  sermon  before  a  sacrament,  not  on  the  death  of 
Christ,  as  it  should  have  been,  but  on  human  responsibility, 
from  this  text:  "So  then  every  one  of  us  shall  give  account 
of  himself  to  Grod."  Nothing  could  be  more  fearful  and  ter- 
rifying than  that  sermon  was.  The  awful  day  of  accounts  was 
before  the  assembly.  The  Judge  of  the  quick  and  dead,  on  his 
great  white  throne,  with  open  books  to  judge  the  world,  was, 
in  imagination,  a  living  reality  before  the  people.  What  timid 
disciple  of  Christ  could  venture  to  the  table  of  the  Lord  un- 
der the  impression  made  by  that  discourse?  Why  is  it  that 
men  of  great  talents  so  often  fail  to  suit  their  discourses  to 
times,  plans,  and  occasions?  I  will  give,  in  further  illustration 
of  the  absurdity  of  preaching  sermons  which  do  not  suit  the 
occasion,  an  anecdote  from  the  llev.  Charles  Buck,  which  I 
will  relate  from  memory.  At  the  time  of  the  plague  in  Lon- 
don, in  1668,  by  which  sixty-eight  thousand  persons  were 
carried  off.  Rev.  Thomas  Vincent  delivered  a  discourse  suited 
to  that  most  calamitous  occasion,  in  which  he  dealt  fearful 
blows  at  the  magistrates  for  their  neglect  of  duty  in  not  taking 
measures  to  stay  the  plague,  and  for  the  health  of  the  city. 
About  one  hundred  years  afterward,  when  there  was  no  plague 
in  London,  a  curate,  an  eloquent  reader,  by  some  means,  got  his 
hands  on  Vincent's  sermon,  and,  without  considering  whether 
it  would  suit  the  occasion  or  not,  he  took  it  to  one  of  the 
leading  pulpits  of  the  city,  and  read  it  to  a  congregation  made 
up  pretty  much  of  estated  gentlemen,  magistrates,  and  other 
dignitaries;  and,  as  he  swept  along  in  his  eloquent  reading, 
the  attack  on  the  magistrates  was  commenced.  The  sermon 
represented  them  as  guilty  of  an  utter  failure  in  duty.  The 
plague  was  raging  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  and  carrying 
oif  the  people  by  thousands  every  day,  and  they  were  lounging 
and  loitering  about  the  taverns  and  ale-houses,  drinking  their 
wine  and  ale,  and  paying  no  attention  to  the  health  of  the  city. 
At  this  the  magistrates  broke  from  their  seats  and  came  from 
all  parts  of  the  house,  and  stood  before  the  pulpit,  and  de- 
manded of  the  curate  to  stop  and  tell  them  where  the  plague 
was  raging,  that  they  might  go  at  once  and  take  measures  to 
arrest  it.  "Plague  raging?  Why,  my  God,  gentlemen,"  said 
the  curate,  "I  don't  know  where  it  is  raging;  it  is  in  my 
sermon!"  Yes,  and  the  plague  has  raged  in  many  a  sermon 
not  suited  to  times,  places,  and  occasions  since  that  day.  Why 
will  men  of  sense  allow  themselves  to  preach  sermons  in  which 
the  plague  rages? 


TUE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CIIURCn.  451 

I  will  conclude  what  I  have  to  say  to  my  beloved  brethren 
in  the  ministry  by  some  notice  of  the  practice  of  reading  ser- 
mons. In  former  years,  among  the  Methodists,  there  were  nb 
readers  of  sermons.  All  who  entered  the  sacred  office  were 
preachers,  and  but  few  of  them  ventured  to  take  more  than  a 
few  short  notes  or  heads  of  their  discourses  into  the  pulpit, 
and  these  they  strove  to  hide  from  their  hearers.  To  use  even 
skeletons  was  not  popular,  and  it  was  supposed  that  no  minis- 
ters read  sermons  to.  their  congregations  but  the  High  Church 
parsons,  whose  evangelical  piety  was  very  generally  held  in 
doubt.  But  time  has  brought  its  changes.  Other  Churches, 
who  once  opposed  Methodist  revival  meetings,  have  come,  at 
last,  to  favor  revivals,  and  to  seek  to  build  up  the  cause  of 
Christ  by  their  means.  The  Methodists,  who  were  in  former 
years  so  much  opposed  to  Church  parsons  reading  sermons  to 
their  congregations,  have  now,  in  many  places,  readers  of  ser- 
mons in  their  pulpits,  instead  of  preachers. 

Now,  the  question  is,  what  advantage  has  the  reader  over  the 
preacher?  He  has  none  in  reading  books,  none  in  study,  none 
in  writing.  The  preacher  can  and  does  do  all  these  things  as 
well  as  the  reader.  What  advantage  has  the  reader  over  the 
preacher  in  the  pulpit?  None  at  all.  To  that  sacred  place  he 
comes  with  a  sermon  in  his  pocket,  long  ago  written,  and  per- 
haps very  cold.  The  preacher  has  a  well-digested  sermon  in 
his  miad  and  heart,  warm  and  fresh.  As  to  liability  to  confu- 
sion, they  are  both  in  danger  of  that.  If  the  preacher  fails  to 
remember  some  of  his  points,  the  reader  often  slips  over  two 
leaves  at  once,  or,,  in  gesticulation,  slips  his  finger  a  little  too 
low  down  on  the  page.  This  leads  him,  as  I  have  sometimes 
seen,  when  he  looks  at  his  paper  again,  to  begin  in  the  wrong 
place,  and  so  get  into  confusion.  The  reader,  in  bending  over 
to  see  his  manuscript,  where  the  light  is  rather  dim,  allows  the 
congregation  the  advantage  of  looking  at  the  top  of  his  head; 
but  the  preacher  can  stand  erect,  and  give  the  people  the  benefit 
of  his  countenance,  uplifted  and  beaming  upon  them.  This  is  a 
great  advantage.  Nearly  all  readers  confine  themselves  strictly 
to  their  manuscript.  This  cuts  off  all  additional  thoughts  irt 
spired  by  the  occasion,  the  nature  of  the  subject,  or  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  preacher  takes  all  these  in,  and  often  finds 
that  God  gives  him  burning  thoughts  in  the  pulpit  that  he 
never  had  in  his  study.  This  must  be  so,  as  Christ  is  with  his 
ministers  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  The  reader 
of  sermons'  to  the  congregation  has  no  New  Testament  example 
for  his  modes  of  communication. 

Neither  Christ  nor  his  Apostles   read   their  sermons  to  the 


452         ADDRESS   TO   THE  MESTISTERS  AND  MEMBERS   OF 

people,  nor  have  they  the  Divine  command  to  support  them. 
Paul  did  not  say,  How  shall  they  hear  without  a  reader?  or  how 
shall  they  read  except  they  be  sent?  but  he  did  say,  "How 
shall  they  hear  without  &  jjreacher?  and  how  shall  they  preach 
except  they  be  sent?"  And  Christ  did  not,  in  the  grand  Gos- 
pel commission,  say.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  read  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature;  but  he  did  say,  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  Yet  I  do  not 
say  that  reading  the  Gospel  to  the  people  from  a  manuscript  is 
forbidden,  or  that  God  never  blesses  that  mode  of  communica- 
tion to  the  salvation  of  souls;  but  I  do  say,  of  the  two  modes 
of  communication,  in  my  judgment,  that  of  preaching  has  vastly 
the  advantage  over  reading.  So  Christ  understood  the  matter, 
or  he  would  not  have  ordained  preaching  as  the  mode  of  pub- 
lishing his  Gospel. 

But  whatever  be  the  mode  of  Gospel  communication,  the 
great  object  must  be  kept  in  view,  namely,  to  glorify  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  salvation  of  perishing  sinners.  "  All  men 
should  honor  the  Son,  even  as  they  honor  the  Father.  He  that 
honoreth  not  the  Son,  honoreth  not  the  Father  that  sent  him." 
How,  then,  may  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Church  be  most  successful  in  glorifying  Christ?  lu 
a  condensed  manner,  the  following  answer  may  be  given  to  this 
important  question: 

1.  The  Church,  which  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth, 
and  without  which  evangelical  truth  would  perish  from  the 
earth,  must  hold  up  Christ  before  this  gainsaying  world  in  all 
the  glory  of  his  original  divinity,  or  Godhead,  as  one  with  the 
Father,  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  the  express  image  of  his 
person,  in  whom  dwelt  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily, 
and  that  he  is  truly  and  properly  "God  manifest  in  the  flesh." 
Now,  he  who  represents  the  character  of  a  man  below  the  re- 
quirements of  the  truth,  is  a  detractor,  and  dishonors  that  man. 
In  like  manner,  he  who  denies  the  Godhead  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  represents  him  as  a  mere  creature,  does  not  glorify  him, 
but  is  a  detractor  from  the  essential  character  of  this  world's 
Redeemer. 

2.  The  ministers  must  lead  on  the  Church  to  glorify  Christ, 
by  giving  to  the  world  a  true  representation  of  the  extent  and 
glory  of  that  great  work  of  redemption,  which  he  did  actually 
accomplish  on  the  cross.  "All  were  dead."  "One  died  for  all." 
He  "tasted  death  for  every  man."  He  is  the  "propitiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  whole  world."  Now,  as  a  man  may  be  dis- 
honored by  detracting  from  the  greatness  and  worth  of  his 
Work,  so  he  who  limits  the  work  of  redemption  to  a  few,  while 


THE    METHODIST    PROTESTANT    CHURCH.  453 

the  great  mass  of  mankind  are  left  out  of  the  pale  of  God's  re- 
deeming mercy,  can  not  be  said  in  truth  to  glory  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  while  he  thus  misrepresents  the  extent  of  his  re- 
deeming work. 

3.  VVe  may  glorify  Christ  by  holding  him  up  to  the  world 
as  the  great  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King  of  the  whole  human 
race.  This  world  is  in  great  mental  and  moral  darkness. 
Christ  is  a  Prophet  to  enlighten  it  by  his  teaching.  "He  is 
the  light  of  the  world,"  "the  true  light  which  lighteth  every 
man  that  cometh  into  the  world."  This  world  is  in  a  state  of 
sin,  guilt,  and  misei-y.  Christ  is  a  Priest  to  atone  for  the  sins 
of  the  world.  He  is  both  Priest  and  Sacrifice.  In  this  he  has 
no  parallel.  Through  his  one  offering  of  himself,  once  for  all, 
sin  is  pardoned,  guilt  removed,  justification  obtained,  and  eternal 
life  secured.  This  world  is  in  a  state  of  bondage  to  sin  and 
Satan.  The  whole  world  is  placed  under  Christ's  mediatorial 
reign,  and  he  can  and  will  subdue  all  his  and  our  enemies,  and 
put  them  all  under  his  feet,  and  bring  all  who  trust  in  him 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  sons  of  Grod.  Now,  to  disparage 
a  man  in  any  official  relation  which  he  may  sustain  to  society, 
is  to  do  him  an  injury,  and  dishonor  him  in  public  estimation. 
Even  so  he  who  detracts  from  Christ's  worth  to  the  world,  as 
Prophet,  Priest,  or  King,  brings  him  no  glory,  and  does  him  a 
great  dishonor,  and,  at  the  same  time,  inflicts  a  proportionable 
injury  on  mankind. 

4.  To  glorify  Christ,  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Meth- 
odist Protestant  Church  must  maintain  his  holy  religion  in  all 
its  heavenly  purity  of  doctrine,  experience,  and  practice.  His 
doctrines  are  the  true  foundation  of  experience,  and  experience 
of  his  love  in  the  heart  will  be  a  sure  foundation  for  a  good 
moral  practice.  All  these  must  go  together.  Ours  must  be 
the  religion  of  the  head  and  heart  and  life;  a  religion  that 
may  be  felt  and  enjoyed  in  the  soul.  Now,  to  teach  mankind 
that  Christ  came  into  the  world,  died  on  the  cross,  and  then 
returned  to  his  ancient  seat  in  glory,  to  give  our  race  a  religion 
consisting  of  nothing  but  outward  forms  and  ceremonies,  and 
that  all  those  who  profess  a  knowledge  of  salvation  by  the  for- 
giveness of  their  sins,  are  distempered  fanatics  or  willful  de- 
ceivers; and  that  no  one  worthy  of  credit  ever  yet  professed  to 
have  "fellowship  with  the  Fatlaer  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ," 
is  certainly  to  dishonor  Christ,  by  representing  him  as  doing 
and  suffering  so  much  to  give  our  race  a  religion  of  very  little 
value.  These  men  of  outward  forms  and  pompous  ceremonies 
should  be  led  to  understand,  that  to  lower  down  the  standard 
of  vital  Christianity  to  suit  the  views  of  half-infidel  professors 


454       ADDRESS   TO    THE   MINISTERS    AND    MEMBERS   OP 

of  religion  is  not  tlie  plan  adopted  by  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  to  glorify  our  blessed  Saviour.  We  should,  if  possible, 
lead  all  such  people  up  to  the  higher  Christian  life,  and  induce 
them  to  learn  experimentally  the  meaning  of  St.  Paul  in  the 
following  prayer  (Eph.  iii:  1-1-19):  "For  this  cause  I  bow  my 
knees  unto  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the 
whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,  that  he  would 
grant  you  according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory  to  be  strength- 
ened with  might  by  his  spirit  in  the  inner  man  ;  that  Christ 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith;  that  ye,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints 
what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height;  and  to 
know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might 
be  filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  Grod."  This  -seems  like  an 
amazing  prayer,  yet  it  only  leads  us  to  contemplate  the  privi- 
lege of  "all  saints."  All  may  be  "strengthened  by  his  Spirit  in 
the  inner  man;"  all  may  "know  the  love  of  Christ  -that  passeth" 
all  the  knowledge  of  worldly  men;  all  may  "be  filled  with  all 
the  fullness  of  God."  And  to  prevent  us  from  "staggering  at 
the  promises  of  God  through  unbelief,"  the  Apostle  tells  us,  in 
this  connection,  that  God  "is  able  to  do"  for  us  "exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think."  And  why  tell 
us  of  this,  if  he  be  not  as  willing  as  he  is  able  to  confer 
all  these  great  and  unspeakable  blessings  upon  his  children? 
Blessed  are  all  they  who  do  not  mistake  the  outside  of  religion 
for  its  inside,  and  rest  in  the  form  without  the  power  of  godli- 
ness. Such  shall  be  "the  salt  of  the  earth,"  and  "the  light  of 
the  world,"  and  have  "all  joy  and  peace  in  believing"  in  Jesus 
Christ. 

5.  In  order  to  glorify  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  whole 
Church,  including  ministers  and  members,  should  voluntarily 
consent  to  be  the  Saviour's  instruments  or  agents  in  the  great 
work  of  the  recovery  of  our  lost  race  back  again  from  the  ranks 
of  proud  rebellion  to  holiness  and  happiness  and  heaven.  All 
the  talents  of  mind,  moral  influence,  and  wealth  found  in  the 
Church  belong  to  the  Lord,  and  should  be  used  to  promote  his 
glory  in  the  salvation  of  sinners.  A  Church  that  works  for 
Christ  will  grow  in  grace ;  a  Church  that  does  nothing  for 
Christ  will  certainly  backslide.  While  in  a  state  of  sin,  all 
worked  for  Satan  and  themselves.  Now,  in  the  Church,  all  must 
work  for  Christ  and  the  extension  of  his  kingdom  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  No  minister  can  build  up  and  carry  forward  the 
cause  of  Christ  who  does  not  find  employment  for  all  the  heads 
and  hands  and  hearts  of  the  people  of  his  charge.  Each 
Christian  has  a  soul  to  save,  and  were  he  to  gain  the  whole 


THE    METHODIST   PROTESTANT   CHURCH.  455 

world  and  lose  his  own  soul,  the  loss  would  infinitely  outweigh 
the  gain.  Personal  religiotl,  therefore,  is  first  in  order.  "Work 
out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and"  trembling;  for  it  is  God 
which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure." 
(Phil,  ii :  12,  13.)  Then  comes  family  religion.  0  how  important 
is  this !  Blessed  is  the  house  where  both  father  and  mother 
are  devoted  Christians,  and  unite  heartily  in  training  up  their 
"children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  Such 
a  family  is  an  incipient  Church,  where  the  worship  of  God,  in 
spirit  and  truth,  is  regularly  maintained.  Nest  to  this  comes 
the  Church — the  preaching  and  hearing  of'  God's  word,  the 
prayer-meetings,  which  all  should  most  scrupulously  attend. 
Why  should  a  Church  suS"er  and  spiritually  die  for  want  of  a 
well-attended  prayer-meeting?  All  the  fnstituted  means  of 
grace,  both  commanded  and  prudential,  should  be  faithfully 
attended  by  all  the  members,  to  keep  the  Church  in  a  healthy, 
growing  state ;  and  along  with  these  duties,  the  Sabbath-school 
deserves  a  very  high  regard.  Here  the  children  of  the  Church 
and  others  are  taught.  Here  our  young  members,  and  some  of 
the  older  ones,  find  room  to  work  for  Christ.  Here  the  first 
rudiments  of  a  Christian  education  are  imparted.  From  these 
Sabbath-schools,  with  hearts  deeply  impressed  by  religous 
truth,  the  children,  by  thousands,  every  year  are  passing  into 
the  various  Churches  of  our  God.  These  Sabbath-schools,  like 
John  the  Baptist,  are  preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord. 

But,  without  delaying  to  notice  our  publishing  interests  and 
our  college,  further  than  to  commend  them  to  the  still  more 
extensive  and  liberal  patronage  of  our  people,  I  call  the  at- 
tention of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church  to  the  great  mis- 
sionary field  now  open  before  us.  Our  holy  religion  is  essen- 
tially missionary  in  its  character.  God  made  all ;  Christ  died 
for  all ;  the  spirit  is  poured  out  upon  all  flesh ;  the  Gospel  is 
to  be  preached  in  all  the  world  to  every  creature.  If,  by  reason 
of  the  youth  and  scanty  resources  of  our  Church,  we  can  not, 
just  yet,  get  up  and  sustain  missions  in  foreign  lands,  we  can 
do  that  work  nearer  home.  All  the  new  States  and  Territories 
call  for  our  missionaries.  And  since  the  close  of  the  war,  in 
numerous  places  in  the  South,  we  have  calls  for  missionary 
laborers ;  and  nearer  home,  in  some  of  the  older  Conferences, 
there  is  much  ground  yet  unoccupied  where  we  ought  to  plant 
Churches.  Now,  as  Christianity  is  a  religion  for  all  the  world, 
and  is  aggressive  in  its  character,  and  must  yet  triumph  over  all 
the  powers  of  darkness,  until  it  fills  the  whole  earth  with  the 
glory  of  God  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea,  let  our  Church  go  to 
work  in  good  earnest,  and  put  missionaries  into  all  those  desti- 


456  ADDKESS   TO   MINISTERS    AND   MEMBERS. 

tute  places.  It  is  as  true  now,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Christ's 
sojourn  upon  earth,  that  "  the  harvest  is  great,  but  the  hiborers 
are  few,"  and  it  is  still  the  Church's  duty  to  "pray  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest  to  thrust  forth  more  laborers  into  his  harvest." 
We  have  many  valuable  ministers  who  are  out  of  the  work,  be- 
cause they  needed  a  better  support  than  the  Church  gave  them. 
I  hope  Grod  will  call  these  men  back  to  the  work,  and  stir  up 
the  Church  to  support  them  in  the  missionary  field.  I  pray 
God  to  call  out  others  well  qualified,  and  send  them  forth.  0, 
how  we  need  our  college  now  to  train  young  men  for  this  glorious 
work  of  evangelization !  We  want  ministers  in  the  work  at  home, 
and  in  the  missions  abroad,  who,  like  John  the  Baptist,  are 
''  burning  and  shining  lights."  Some  ministers  burn  all  and  shine 
none,  as  though  ignorance  were  the  mother  of  devotion;  others 
shine  all  and  burn  none,  as  though  knowledge  alone  were  re- 
ligion. But  we  want  our  ministers  both  to  "  burn  "  and  "  shine," 
that  they  may  glorify  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  diffusing  abroad 
enlightened  piety  in  all  the  laud.  Not  light  without  piety,  nor 
piety  without  light,  but  both  together.  It  will  take  both  to  do 
substantial  good  to  man  and  bring  the  highest  glory  to  Christ. 
Along  with  this  enlightened  Christianity  let  the  doctrine  of 
ecclesiastical  liberty  be  inculcated  every-where.  It  would  be 
dishonorable  to  Christ  to  teach  mankind  that  he  is,  in  any  sense, 
the  founder  of  an  ecclesiatical  despotism,  in  which  all  the 
powers  of  the  government  are  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy.  The 
Christian  religion  is  at  the  foundation  of  American  freedom, 
and  the  Church  has  as  much  right  to  a  free  representative 
government  as  the  United  States.  So  we  believe,  and  so  we 
teach  mankind  every-where. 


THE   END. 


OPERA-HOUSE  BOOKSTORE, 

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